Research has suggested that the relationship between previous academic achievement and student variables is mediated by parent and teacher expectations of the child's ability and future success. The goal of this study was to analyze the mediating role of teachers' expectations and teachers' perceptions of parents' expectations between previous…

This paper will provide an overview of research in the past 20 years into the relationship between dyslexia and various aspects of self-perception, including self-concept, self-esteem, self-efficacy and locus of control. Problems are identified relating to the measurement of some of the most widely used constructs, as is the need for more precise…

Twenty-six severely learning disabled students aged 10 through 20 enrolled in a special residential school were interviewed. Most were found to have very little insight into the nature of LD and tended to attribute their learning problems to their own lack of effort. (Author/CL)

Twenty-one learning disabled students and 25 non-LD students were asked to explain their high and low scores in a bowling game under conditions of either high or low success. LD Ss' explanations did not differ over the two conditions. Findings suggested that LD Ss viewed their difficulty as something that could not be overcome. (Author/CL)

An investigation of the causal attributions of success and failure performances on various levels of task difficulty by 36 learning disabled and 36 nondisabled adolescents revealed that Ss' perceptions of the task difficulty levels were significant determinants of the two groups' differing causal attributions. (Author/CL)

Self-concept and attributions made about academic successes and failures were compared in 46 students with learning disabilities and 47 normally achieving students (mean age 12 years). Attributions regarding internal versus external causes for successes and failures and stable (ability) versus unstable (effort) causes for failures did not…

The paper reviews research on the effects of motivation on performance of learning disabled children and presents a treatment approach (attribution retraining) designed to help children link their difficulties to factors under their own control. (CL)

Twenty-nine third and fourth grade learning disabled children's attributions for success and failure were examined. Results indicated that Ss did not always interpret successes as reflecting something positive about themselves. Nor did they view failure as something that could be overcome with effort. (Author/CL)

Seventy-five learning-disabled students (10 to 14 years old) received instructions about summarization strategies and about personal causality that were designed to improve reading comprehension. Changes in antecedent attributions about personal causality were not usually altered by this program-specific attributional training, although…

The perceptions of parents and teachers of 24 children with learning disabilities regarding their children's or students' locus of control (LC) orientation were compared to the LC orientation held by the children themselves. While no significant differences were found between parents and children, teachers perceived students as more internally…

The aim of this article was fourfold: first, to determine whether there are significant differences between students with (N=173) and without learning disabilities (LD; N=172) in the dimensions of self-concept, causal attributions, and academic goals. Second, to determine whether students with LD present a uniform attributional profile or whether…

Explanations for motivational difficulties of students with learning disabilities emphasize student-perceived competence and student-perceived control. Motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic and is enhanced by students' active involvement and ownership of the learning process, by the use of techniques to create and maintain interest, and by the…

A reformulated theory of learned helplessness posits that helplessness may be the outcome of a learning disabled (LD) student's belief of personal or universal helplessness. Motivational, cognitive, and emotional deficits may result. Research on locus of control and persistence as well as on the contrast between mastery (achievement)-oriented…

The Survey of Achievement Responsibility was used to compare causal attribution patterns of 376 learning disabled (LD) boys and 177 LD girls (grades 4-11). Girls had higher effort and luck attributions in academic success situations than did boys and higher ability attributions for academic failure situations. (Author/JW)

Learned helplessness is a state of passivity and loss of persistence resulting from individuals' perceptions, over a period of time, that they cannot control outcomes of events nor can their efforts lead to attainment of goals. Research studies are reviewed and implications for the study of learning disabilities are evaluated. (MH)