This study explored the response of 28, second year undergraduate students to an innovative approach to a five-day solo. Periods of solitude are more likely to lead to positive outcomes when they are freely chosen than when they are programmed as part of a course. The extent to which a programmed solo can be "freely chosen" by the…

The present study explored possible differences in reasons for withdrawing from higher vocational education between ethnic minority and majority non-completers in the Netherlands. Tinto's model on the departure process was used as a theoretical framework. A total of 1017 non-completers filled in a questionnaire regarding their reasons for…

The purpose of this research is to identify the causal attributions of business computing students in an introductory computer programming course, in the computer science department at Notre Dame University, Louaize. Forty-five male and female undergraduates who completed the computer programming course that extended for a 13-week semester…

Contemporary theories of Human Causal Induction assume that causal knowledge is inferred from observable contingencies. While this assumption is well supported by empirical results, it fails to consider an important problem-solving aspect of causal induction in real time: In the absence of well structured learning trials, it is not clear whether…

This study examines service-learning participation and religiosity for their effect on structural and individualistic attributions for poverty. Research on these factors is either insufficient or nonexistent. The data for this study come from a random sample of college students in a Southeastern state. Results indicate that participation in a…

Attributional theory and empirical evidence suggest that a tendency to make stable, global self-causal attributions for undesirable events is associated with negative outcomes. However, existing self-report measures of parental attributions do not account for the possibility that dysfunctional parent-causal attributions for child misbehavior might…

The experience of stressful social interactions, negative causal attributions, and the use of maladaptive coping efforts help maintain depression over time in the general population. We investigated whether a similar experience occurs among adults with mild intellectual disability. We compared the frequency and stress impact of such interactions,…

This paper reflects on the importance of study groups in contributing to a positive postgraduate experience and explores specific concepts, such as "disappearing behaviours" in contrasting the "official" languages of universities with the beneficial behaviours found through study groups. Additionally the paper advocates the…

Purpose: This paper aims to encapsulate the main procedure and key findings of a qualitative research on end-users' interactions with web-based search tools in order to demonstrate how the concept of "information visibility" emerged and how an integrative model of information visibility and information seeking on the web was constructed.…

The present series of experiments explores the interaction between retroactive interference and cue competition in human contingency learning. The results of two experiments show that a cue that has been exposed to a cue competition treatment (overshadowing) loses part of its ability to retroactively interfere with responding to a different cue…

This study focused on whether Internet use improves skills for practical use of information, which is termed information literacy in Japan. Data from Japanese elementary school children (n = 702) were analyzed in a two-wave panel study in order to estimate the causal relationship between Internet use and information literacy. Structural equation…

As a result of decreasing degree attainment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, the United States is undergoing a shortage in the STEM workforce that it has not encountered since the mid-1950s (ACT, 2006; Gilbert & Jackson, 2007). Moreover, as computer usage cuts across diverse aspects of modern culture, the…

People tend to attach less value to a good if they know a delay will occur before they obtain it. For example, people value receiving $100 dollars tomorrow more than receiving $100 in 10 years. We explore one reason for this tendency (due to Derek Parfit, 1984): In terms of psychological properties, such as beliefs, values, and goals, the decision…

This article reports on the causal relationships between three factors in second language (L2) group work settings: communication confidence (i.e., confidence in one's ability to communicate), beliefs about group work, and willingness to communicate (WTC). A questionnaire was administered to 729 first-year university students in Japan. A model…

Within the college student development literature, epistemologic development has been studied in the context of academic learning and outside of this context. However, investigation into if and how epistemologic development relates to academic behaviors and outcomes rarely has been studied. This study uses quantitative measures to explore the…