Feelings of helplessness can impact on learning to read. This research review illustrates problems in assessing learned helplessness, including instrumentation inadequacies, lack of comprehensive causal schemes, context specificity, etc. Observations of and discussions with the child are recommended in the assessment process. Guidelines for…

Investigates the evaluation processes used in preschools, focusing on such issues as the extent to which (1) teachers use standards to support their evaluations; (2) whether standards teachers use are congruent with those that research and theory suggest would be used by preschool children; and (3) the extent to which teachers make causal…

Based on the Laosa model, this longitudinal study examined relationships between family learning environments and the aspirations of 512 Australian adolescents from three occupational status groups. Adolescents' aspirations had moderate associations with parents' aspirations but only modest or negligible relations to parents' instrumental and…

Compared were the attributional patterns for success and failure in mathematics of 491 tenth-grade students in Papua New Guinea and Australia. Relatively few differences were found in the patterns of boys and girls or of high- and low-achieving students, but substantial differences were found between students in the two countries. (MNS)

The attributions of third and sixth graders with low and high reading achievement were assessed in two reading situations. Major findings were: (1) sixth graders' locus of control scores varied across situations while third graders did not; (2) two causes--studying and paying attention--were particularly salient; and (3) age and achievement…

Pupils at an elementary school in Israel, their mothers, and their teachers were studied to determine how each group would attribute the causes of children's problem behavior. Pupils and teachers were apt to blame external factors. Parents tended to distribute responsibility for problems more evenly. (Author/PP)

A definition of the construct of teacher sense of efficacy is proposed, a model relating it to other variables is provided. Also presented is a review of literature not only on teacher sense of efficacy but on other constructs which afford indirect insight into the phenomenon of teacher sense of efficacy. (Author/AL)

A sample of parents, school psychologists, and elementary school teachers viewed films of three different children and rated them using a 20-item Likert-type instrument. The hypothesis that perceived socioeconomic status and ethnic identification would differentially affect the three rater groups' attributions of positive and negative behavior was…

A theory of motivation based upon attributions of causality for success and failure is offered. Three central causal dimensions are identified: stability, locus, and control; these dimensions, respectively, are linked with expectancy change, esteem-related emotions, and interpersonal judgments. A theory of motivation with implications for…

The outcome interpretations, attributions for the outcome, expectancies of future test outcomes, and perceptions concerning instrumental actions of four Finnish elementary school teachers and their 84 sixth-grade students were compared after a math exam. Disagreements between teachers and students on these points reflect biases on the part of…

The effectiveness of Strategic Content Learning, an intervention model to promote self-regulated and strategic learning, was investigated. Six adults with learning disabilities chose a task of importance to current or future academic work and were provided individualized support on relevant tasks. Results indicated student gains in task…

Sexually abused girls (n=56) and their nonoffending female caretakers from primarily low-income, African American families were assessed to determine factors related to child symptomatology and self-blame. Child self-blame was related to overall relationships with caretakers, disruptions in relationship with a primary caretaker, child age, general…

Causal attributions for success and failure in science, mathematics, and English were studied with intellectually gifted secondary school students (n=30) and their nongifted siblings (n=32). For success in science, siblings had significantly higher effort and strategy attribution scores, and lower task easiness attribution scores than did gifted…

Using an experimental design that avoided some methodological difficulties of earlier studies, this study found a relationship between harsh parental discipline and kindergarten children's aggression. This relationship was apparently not a result of confounding factors such as child temperament, SES, and marital violence. (BC)

Compares locus of control in 65 male and 77 female U.S. college students and 35 male and 78 female Swedish gymnasium students. Swedes are not necessarily more external than are U.S. students, although Swedish women described themselves as having more external locus of control than Swedish men and U.S. students. (SLD)