In recent research the assessment of worry and emotionality as separate components of test anxiety has become a salient point. Because of theoretical advances in this field it seems to be necessary to include both aspects in the measures that are used to assess test anxiety. Some literature on this distinction is available, but no longitudinal…

The effects of a common dimension within a model's performance on different aspects of observational learning were examined in two experiments. Subjects were 220 second-grade children. (Author/MP)

Continuing motivation has been defined as an individual's willingness to return to a task or task area at a subsequent time, in similar or varying circumstances, without visible external pressure to do so, and when other behavior alternatives are available. In the current study, path models from Weiner's theory of motivation were developed to…

A meta analysis of research on children's attributions for success and failure was conducted to test the adequacy of the egotistic bias hypothesis for children in grades one to seven. Results supported the egotism hypothesis and indicated that both question wording and research context are important determinants of children's attributions.…

This study compared 28 preadolescents, either with or without learning disabilities (LD). Students with LD had less effective monitoring skills, lower attributions to effort, and a wider range of depressive symptoms. Results are discussed in relation to Borkowski's model that relates behavioral patterns of children facing school tasks with…

This experiment explored the mediating functions of attributional and self-efficacy variables on achievement outcomes for skill training treatments offered in conjunction with attributional feedback. Children who were identified as learned helpless and deficient in division skills received training on division operations either through modeling…

Teacher efficacy has been identified as a variable accounting for individual differences in teaching effectiveness. This study of elementary school teachers developed an instrument to measure teacher efficacy, provided construct validation support for the variable, and examined the relationship between teacher efficacy and observable teacher…

A causal model of reactions to violence that incorporated the role of attribution processes, emotions, in-group bias, and cognitive development was studied with children 8-12 years old. Participants were 121 third and sixth graders who attended a private elementary school in southern California. In groups of six, subjects were presented one of a…

Second graders, fifth graders, and college students heard 12 stories that varied systematically by situational domain, outcome, and causal attribution. Students were asked to infer the story character's emotion at the end of the story and give reasons for it. Contributions and limitations of Weiner's attribution-emotion model are assessed in light…

Motivation is widely believed to be a critical component of the learning process in the elementary classroom, but educational research has failed to substantiate this belief. To investigate interrelationships among selected motivational variables, demographic, motivational and achievement characteristics of 400 elementary school students in Grades…

Examines explanations used by children (ages five-14) to explain academic success and failure; frequency of their use; and developmental variations in types of explanations used. It was found that patterns of attribution categories vary by age, and that the attribution process involves a complex interaction of subjective and objective reality.…