Conventional advice discourages controlling for postoutcome variables in regression analysis. By contrast, we show that controlling for commonly available postoutcome (i.e., future) values of the treatment variable can help detect, reduce, and even remove omitted variable bias (unobserved confounding). The premise is that the same unobserved…

This paper examined the relationships between workplace coping strategies, occupational attributional style, and job satisfaction among a sample of 190 nurses employed with a Veterans Affairs Medical Center. As an occupational group, nurses experience high levels of chronic workplace stressors. Participants completed a questionnaire packet…

The authors tested the thesis that people find the Monty Hall dilemma (MHD) hard because they fail to understand the implications of its causal structure, a collider structure in which 2 independent causal factors influence a single outcome. In 4 experiments, participants performed better in versions of the MHD involving competition, which…

In productive constructionism, a teacher's job is to fuse students' knowledge with what experts know, not to favor one over the other. Teachers do not promote understanding by permitting students' constructions to stand even though they clash with experts' constructions. Student engagement in problem-solving tasks is crucial, but so is…

This report summarizes findings on strategies chosen by students (n=38) when solving algebra problems related to various functions with the freedom to use a TI-83 graphing calculator, influences on student problem-solving strategy choices, student ability to approach algebra problems with use of multiple representations, and student beliefs on how…

Evaluation of the attribution of cause and solution for personal problems of 319 deaf college students found that (1) attribution tended to vary as a function of the type of problem; and (2) that subjects were more disposed to internality than externality for both cause and solution. (DB)

A quantitative model of belief revision and causal thinking using circumstantial evidence was assessed, using 36 undergraduate students in three experiments. The model assumes beliefs are revised based on a cascaded reasoning process that combines beliefs about the clue/possible cause relationship and the clue's forward and backward implications.…

The purpose of this study was to examine African Americans' lay beliefs and attributions toward suicide. The Attitudes Toward Suicide Scale, Life Ownership Orientation Questionnaire, Stigma Questionnaire, and Suicide Ideation Questionnaire were administered to 251 undergraduate college students. Beliefs about stigma associated with suicide were…

Results of this evaluation study did not find that attribution retraining (embedded within a mathematics computer-assisted instructional program) had a significant impact on the attributions of 29 students with learning disabilities. However, students in the attribution retraining condition did complete more program levels and scored higher on…

Compared project (n=79) and nonproject (n=111) third-grade students on their conceptual development in arithmetic, their personal goals in mathematics, and their beliefs about reasons for success in mathematics. Project students attained more advanced levels of conceptual understanding and held stronger beliefs about the importance of working…