Comments on an article by Rips et al. L. J. Rips, S. Blok, and G. Newman (2006) proposed that singular concepts, which support the tracing of individual objects across their existence, are governed by a principle of causal continuity. They purported to show that causal continuity is better than existing theories at explaining judgments of the…

Responds to comments made by Rhemtulla and Xu on the current authors' original paper Concepts of individual objects (e.g., a favorite chair or pet) include knowledge that allows people to identify these objects, sometimes after long stretches of time. In an earlier article, the authors set out experimental findings and mathematical modeling to…

With declining state support, increased financial need on the part of the fastest growing demographic sections of the population, and public policy that discourages major increases in tuition for public higher education, the only logical source of additional finances for public colleges and universities is increased private funding through…

Advancement Via Individualized Determination (AVID) provides middle-achieving, underachieving and socio-economically disadvantaged students in grades 4-12 with success strategies, and rigorous coursework that prepares them for high school graduation and college acceptance. Based on a series of interviews with Latina students who had participated…

The purpose of this study was to identify intrinsic and extrinsic variables that influence teacher job satisfaction and retention. A survey was sent to 300 randomly selected Missouri public elementary school teachers in grades K-5 having 5 or more years of teaching experience. The results from 201 respondents suggest that three intrinsic…

Immediately prior to an exam, it is common to hear students commenting on whether they anticipate doing as well on the exam as they expect (or, in other words, whether they anticipate performing as well on the exam as the standard at which they believe they should be performing). These anticipations have received little past research attention. In…

In a well-designed experiment, random assignment of participants to treatments makes causal inference straightforward. However, if participants are not randomized (as in observational study, quasi-experiment, or nonequivalent control-group designs), group comparisons may be biased by confounders that influence both the outcome and the alleged…

To examine students' causal judgements of positive mood in relation to self-regulation, 128 participants from two different schools representing two distinct educational environments (Technical/Vocational School (TSO/BSO): N = 63; General Secondary School (ASO): N = 65) were asked to judge 45 statements containing three possible relationships (A…

Although studies on self-efficacy and attribution have independently contributed to the motivation literature, these two constructs have rarely been considered together in the domain of foreign language learning. Here, 500 undergraduates in Spanish, German, and French courses were asked to report whether test scores represented a successful or…

Using Vermunt's model [Vermunt, J. D. (1998). "The regulation of constructive learning processes". "British Journal of Educational Psychology", 68, 149-171] of self-regulated learning as a conceptual framework, this study aims to contribute to the development of finer grained models of higher education students' learning by (1) investigating…

Associated different types of "relapse crises" and coping responses with resumption of smoking in previously heavy smokers (N=102) who had achieved initial abstinence. Analyses of posttreatment assessments indicated that any smoking lapse was strongly related to subsequent relapse. Situational characteristics, number of coping responses,…

Research review on classification and counting of deaths reveals little hard evidence supporting claims that suicides are seriously underreported in United States. Literature suggests that underreporting is counterbalanced by overcounting. Estimates maximum likely net undercount, taking compensating overcounts into account, to be under 10%…

Examines supervision from attributional perspective. Conceptualizes counselor supervision as interactional process in which trainees learn to describe and manage cause-effect relationships. Reviews attribution theory and discusses common biases and errors in attribution process. Proposes interventions to help supervisors minimize influence of…

Three investigations and one main experiment examined whether children ages four to seven differentiate between the causal mechanisms appropriate for different conceptual domains. Results suggest that preschoolers prefer natural mechanisms for color inheritance in biological kinds and recognize the importance of human intentions in producing the…