This research explored cognitive-motivational patterns of learning-disabled and nondisabled adolescents by employing the theoretical model of C. S. Dweck, which posits that a "learning goal" orients students toward the development of competence, whereas a "performance goal" orients students toward the documentation of competence, and that these different goals result in different interpretations of the achievement context. Specifically, this study examined whether the experimental manipulation of the achievement context enhanced or impaired 63 learning-disabled and 69 nondisabled adolescents' cognitions, affective responses, and task choice behavior when confronted with success and failure feedback on a complex and ambiguous problem-solving task. Data indicate that Dweck's social-cognitive model holds explanatory value for conceptualizing cognitive-motivational processes. Nondisabled adolescents were found to feel better after success and to use more low-effort attributions after failure than learning-disabled subjects. Learning-disabled subjects tended to blame inadequate ability more for their failure than nondisabled subjects did. A belief in the fixed, static nature of intelligence promoted negative affect in the face of achievement obstacles. Level of confidence mediated future challenge-seeking for adolescents who subscribe to a belief in the stable nature of intelligence. (24 references) (JDD)