Psychological procedures change behavior in part by creating and strengthening perceived self-efficacy, which refers to personal judgments of performance capabilities in a given activity. In addition, it has been hypothesized that attributions, or perceived causes of outcomes, exert important effects on self-efficacy. A study investigated how the sequence of extended attributional feedback affected children's attributions, self-efficacy, and achievement. The subjects, 40 fourth and fifth grade students with low reading skills, participated in a training program that included instruction and practice in identifying the important ideas in a reading passage. One group received ability feedback (positive comments on student performance), a second group received effort feedback (positive comments on student efforts), a third group was given ability feedback during the first half of the program and effort feedback during the second half, and this sequence was reversed for a fourth group. Results showed that children who received ability feedback during the second half of the program developed higher ability attributions and self-efficacy than did children in the other conditions. The sequence of extended attributional feedback did not differentially affect skill development. (FL)