Investigated changes in high school dropouts' personal attributes between 8th and 12th grade. Data on several variables (e.g., academic achievement, motivation, relationships with peers and teachers, and self-esteem) from three waves of the National Educational Longitudinal Study indicated that in 8th grade, students scored at the national average…

Examines the effect of treatment on both the cognitive and the affective functioning of 142 low achievers. Results indicate significant gains for the experimental group on four variables (academic achievement, self-concept, social acceptance, and locus of control). Group therapy enhanced academic progress and social well-being of low-achieving…

Discusses the need for instructional designers, trainers, and educators to have cultural sensitivity, or a cross-cultural perspective/awareness. Considers learning environment, classroom rituals, intelligence assessment instruments, cultural background, teacher-student relationship, nonverbal behavior, discipline, locus of control, rewards, and…

A relatively new method of helping pediatric cancer patients cope with their illness is specially designed summer camps. Camp helps children with cancer address psychological effects of the disease, bodily changes, and self-concept, and helps parents and siblings cope. Sidebars present resources and tips on incorporating children with cancer into…

At quarterly intervals in 1986-87, attribution of control and subjective symptom ratings were assessed among general psychiatry residents in the University of Cincinnati's training program. Differences were significant for ratings of internal locus of control, but the external locus of control ratings showed no corresponding fluctuation.…

Tested hypothesis that African American children protect themselves from failure by detaching their self-esteem from academic outcomes. Analyses revealed a pattern of weakening correlations between self-esteem and academic outcomes from 8th to 10th grade for African American students. Correlations for white students remained stable or increased.…

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…

Explores the attributional orientation of underachieving students in three countries (Japan, China, and the United States). Responses from 738 students reveal that Asian students perceived controllable causes, particularly effort, to play a greater role in performance outcomes than did their American peers. Implications are discussed regarding the…

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)

Uses Social Learning Theory to compare 149 university students from Poland with 136 university students from the southern United States for belief-based personality constructs and personality correlates of paranormal beliefs. As hypothesized, Poles reported a more external locus of control and significantly greater endorsement of irrational…

This study investigated sources of resistance to development of integrated preschool programs, expressed in interviews with 30 parents, teachers, and administrators and in observations of planning meetings. Findings suggest that perceived loss of political control over aspects of programs that have been informally negotiated among parents,…

Findings from two studies of middle to late adulthood indicate that elderly people are effective in maintaining a sense of control and a positive view of self and personal development. Argues that the resiliency of the elderly hinges on the interplay between activities that alleviate developmental losses and accommodative processes by which…

Found that Mexican-American mothers with beliefs that involved an external locus of control in health matters were less likely than mothers with beliefs that involved an internal locus of control to use parenting strategies that promoted the internalization of healthy eating habits in their children. (MM)

Research on self-concept, attributions, anxiety, depression, and suicide among adolescents with learning disability is examined for the purpose of detecting consistency of emotional and developmental indicators. Analysis indicates that these students appear to be at increased risk for severe depression and suicide. (Author/DB)

Describes a study of undergraduates that examined the effects of behavioral versus cognitive review strategies on learning outcomes and depth of processing during computer-based instruction. Near and far transfer learning are discussed, the use of locus of control is explained, and posttest differences are examined. (eight references) (LRW)