Courses: This activity can be used in a wide range of classes, including interpersonal communication, introduction to communication, and small group communication. Objectives: After completing this activity, students should be able to: (1) define attribution theory, personality attribution, situational attribution, and attribution bias; (2)…

An activity that teaches psychology students about the primacy effect that occurs when individuals make judgments about the ability of other people is described. The primacy effect is the tendency for an observer's judgment to be influenced more strongly by early information about a person than by information that comes later. (Author/RM)

The research was designed to teach 61 learning disabled (LD) junior high school students to set realistic goals, to expend effort to achieve the goals, and to accept responsibility for achieving or failing to achieve their goals. Ss completed the Michigan State Self Concept of Ability Scale, the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Scale, the…

A junior-senior level course in listening focuses on a 2- to 3-day unit on examining communication and cultural diversity. In this unit, the primary element is an activity involving student participation, and the major theme of this activity is cultural values and norms. Attribution training, a technique designed to teach persons from one culture…

The article offers suggestions for dealing with learning disabled children's apparent lack of achievement motivation, which may be a lack of belief that their actions affect academic and nonacademic achievement. Suggestions include establishing appropriate standards, focusing on effort rather than outcome, and promoting self-acceptance of credit…

Demonstrations are sometimes perceived as merely entertaining and expendable ancillaries for lectures and laboratory sessions. Nothing can be further from the truth. If done properly, demonstrations have much more value than lectures and labs when used to teach critical thinking in the sciences. There are effective ways to model scientific…

Suggests a videotape illustration is highly effective in teaching Kelley's covariation attribution model. Notes the use of videotapes improves the students' understanding of attribution concepts. Claims students are able to make appropriate attributions using Kelley's model and to apply them to real-life situations. (Author/NL)

These two documents address the issue of dealing with blame for farm families in crisis. The first document, for the adult student, discusses how and why people blame each other, with emphasis on the current farm financial crisis. It is noted that blaming occurs primarily at the anger and depression stages of the loss cycle and that, when losing…

Believes that everyone can sing, but that many people think that they do not have the ability. States that music teachers can recruit students for choir by concentrating on the skill and effort of students. Explains how teachers can use attribution theory to recruit nonsingers. (CMK)

Knowing how to interest and motivate pupils is a skill, which separates the "great" teachers from the mediocre. This book will inform and inspire staff and give them confidence in dealing with pupils who are not naturally "teacher pleasers." The book explains: (1) how personality affects learning styles; (2) suggests assessment tools and…

The article describes an instructional intervention appropriate to improving student attitudes and achievement through attributional retraining and instruction in learning strategies, particularly mnemonic strategies. Application of the approach with learning-disabled students in reading comprehension and mathematics is reported. (DB)

This monograph is designed to provide practical classroom suggestions, including sample lesson plans, to show how teachers can improve the problem-solving competence of students at all educational and ability levels. The examples provided show that problem-solving instruction can be integrated with teaching the content of particular topics. While…

College students bring a variety of perceptions to the classroom about what it takes to succeed in a discipline. Attributional retraining, a therapeutic technique for modifying maladaptive perceptions into more adaptive ones, can enhance student motivation and academic achievement. The technique is most effective with students who are at high risk…

Bernard Weiner and other motivation researchers have explored what happens to students when they try to explain why they succeed or fail. Causal attributions directly affect motivation and make the difference between helpless and mastery-oriented students. Suggestions are offered to educators to help change the attributions of helpless students…

This guide helps Wisconsin educators at all grade levels and in all content areas identify specific methods to help them achieve equity in their classrooms. Although most suggestions are simple ones, others may require some time to develop new ways of teaching, grading, and interacting with students. The following strategies are outlined in this…