Attributional retraining--a therapeutic method of reinstating psychological control--of 198 Canadian college students through a videotaped lecture enabled external locus of control students to learn more and make better use of homework study materials but offered no advantage to internal locus students. Results are interpreted in a social…

Following an incentive (low, high) manipulation, college students received response-outcome contingency training. All students then observed a lecture. Postlecture results indicated that the high- compared to the low-expressive lecturer increased achievement and internal locus in contingent but not noncontingent students for low-incentive…

Failing a course is an acutely negative event for first-year university students, and a major contributor to high attrition rates at North American universities. Despite its prevalence, course failure receives relatively little research attention. What can be done to reduce course failure and help first-year students remain in university? This…

Type A and B students (N=159) received contingent or non-contingent feedback on an aptitude test, attended a lecture from an expressive or unexpressive instructor, and received an achievement test and attributional questionnaire. Non-contingent feedback lowered perceived control for both types. Self-perceptions of Type A students were unaffected…

The effects of contingency training, instructor expressiveness, and student incentives on student achievement and attributions were investigated in a simulated college classroom. The following conditions were involved: a contingency manipulation resembling an aptitude test; an instructor lecture; two levels of student incentive; and an achievement…

The concept of an individual's perception of control was applied to the classroom performance of university students. The initial approach was to use a laboratory simulation of a university classroom to explore the following: (1) whether it is possible to induce feelings of helplessness in a university classroom; (2) effects that feelings of…

Students (N=340) at the University of Manitoba (Canada) with internal and external loci of control (LOC) received no training or received either contingent or non-contingent feedback. Student achievement and achievement attributions were measured against variations in expressiveness in a videotaped lecture. Training and LOC influenced students'…

Three causal attributions--ability, effort, and test difficulty--were examined for 223 University of Manitoba (Canada) students in relation to perceived performance and the quality of instruction. When instruction was good, causal attributions produced less variability in achievement and control. Implications for teaching are discussed. (SLD)

Attributional retraining, the restructuring of an individual's explanations for events in his environment, is proposed as one method of enhancing college student motivation and achievement, particularly for high-risk students. Drawing on previous research and theory, the most promising strategies for using attributional retraining with this…

Tests Weiner's (Bernard) attribution-affect-help judgment model in the context of nine stigmas and ascribed each to either a controllable or uncontrollable factor. Finds that higher controllability was linked to greater anger and less pity, greater pity was predictive of a greater willingness to help, and anger did not predict help judgments. (CMK)

College students bring a variety of perceptions to the classroom about what it takes to succeed in a discipline. Attributional retraining, a therapeutic technique for modifying maladaptive perceptions into more adaptive ones, can enhance student motivation and academic achievement. The technique is most effective with students who are at high risk…

Bernard Weiner and other motivation researchers have explored what happens to students when they try to explain why they succeed or fail. Causal attributions directly affect motivation and make the difference between helpless and mastery-oriented students. Suggestions are offered to educators to help change the attributions of helpless students…

Educational seduction, in which a charismatic, entertaining instructor obtains favorable student ratings while presenting insufficient lecture content, threatens the validity of student ratings and teaching effectiveness research. To examine the effects of one educational seduction variable, instructor expressiveness, on student achievement…