Person memory and causal attributions.

Three experiments with 273 college students were conducted to reconcile the apparent contradiction between the well-established finding that initial impressions are resistant to incongruent (ICG) information and the finding that information ICG with an impression is particularly likely to be recalled. Using a procedure similar to that of R. Hastie and P. A. Kumar (1979), a situational or dispositional attribution was provided for a target item, which was either congruent (CG) or ICG with an initial impression. The ICG item was more likely than the CG item to be recalled only when attributed to dispositional causes (Exp I). The congruence of the target had greater impact on impressions when attributed to dispositional causes, particularly when Ss were given little other information about the target (Exps I and II). Exp III revealed that Ss preferred situational attributions for ICG items and dispositional attributions for CG. The authors conclude that Hastie and Kumar's findings may be limited to conditions in which situational attributions for TCG information are not provided. Possible mediators of the effects of causal attributions on recall, and the relation between recall and impressions are discussed. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Time perspective and causal attributions for achievement.

Investigated the relation between adolescents' time perspective and attributions for achievement by administering measures of time perspective (continuity, optimism, pessimism, and utilization) and attributions (ability, effort, context, and luck) independently assessed for success and failure to 215 10th graders. A canonical analysis extracted 1 significant canonical root that related the 2 sets of measured variables and indicated that the 2 variates shared 25% of their variance. Interpretation of the structural relation between time perspective and attributions suggests that a more adaptive time perspective relates to (a) attributing achievement success to one's own effort and ability and not to the characteristics of the task or luck and (b) minimizing the attributional role of luck, lack of ability, and task characteristics for achievement failure while acknowledging the role of lack of effort. Implications for motivation enhancement programs are discussed. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect on retaliation of causal attributions concerning attack.

In 2 studies, 108 male undergraduates were defeated on either 17%, 50%, or 83% of reaction time trials, received aversive noise, and could ostensibly retaliate by delivering shock to their partner. The noise level delivered was described in Exp I as typical of most other people (high consensus) or atypical of most other people (low consensus) and in Exp II as from a partner who knew (high foreseeability) or did not know (low foreseeability) the kind and level of stimulation controlled by the switches delivering reinforcement to the recipient. Hypotheses were based on the notion that retaliation increases as more personal causality is attributed to a provoker and that more personal causality is inferred in highly foreseeable—or low consensus—50% defeat conditions. As expected, greater differences in aggression between high and low consensus and between high and low foreseeability were displayed in the 50% defeat condition than in the other defeat conditions. Anticipated differences in inferences were obtained. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivational biases in causal attributions of arousal.

Two studies hypothesized that the desire to seek ambiguity as to the cause of a particular state of arousal will increase if either that arousal state or its source is potentially threatening to self-esteem. In Exp I, 22 high- and 21 low-sex-guilt male undergraduates (as determined by the Mosher Forced Choice Sex Guilt Inventory) were shown either an arousing erotic movie or a nonarousing movie; in Exp II, 28 high- and 28 low-guilt females were led to believe that they were very aroused by pictures of nude men. Ambiguity was introduced into both situations by means of a bogus, nonthreatening, alternative arousal source (a placebo). Results indicate that high-guilt Ss were actively involved in the process of determining which source was arousing them. More importantly, this involvement appeared to be motivated by ego-defensiveness. In both experiments, when high-guilt Ss were confronted by an erotic stimulus, they chose to attribute arousal to the bogus source—and thus create ambiguity as to the actual cause and nature of their arousal—more than did low-guilt Ss. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of self-concept on children's causal attributions and self-reinforcement.

Studied self-concept as a dispositional variable influencing children's cognitive-attributional and affective-self reinforcing reactions to achievement outcomes. 64 6th-graders classified as high or low in self-concept on an abbreviated version of the Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale were given an achievement task on which they succeeded or failed. A preinstructional set was used to allow Ss to interpret their performance as being determined by skill or luck. More high than low self-concept children attributed their success to the skill cue. High self-concept Ss also engaged in more self-reward for success. Both self-concept groups used lack of skill to account for their failure, but the low group responded with more self-punishment. Results are discussed within an attributional model of achievement behavior. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structure of freshmen's causal attributions for exam performance.

This article explores the structure underlying causal attribution for achievement in an actual academic context. Ss were 859 university freshmen drawn from 4 samples. First, they rated the influence of 10 possible causes on their exam performance. Procrustes factor analysis of the causes revealed 4 factors in each of the samples reflecting the dimensions of locus, stability, control, and globality. The fit of the factor solution with theoretical predictions was r?=?.73. Second, 209 Ss drawn from the same population assessed 10 causes for exam performance along the dimensions of locus, stability, and control. The theoretical fit of these direct judgments was also substantial, r?=?.75. The author concludes that the four dimensions of locus, stability, control, and globality reflect the major characteristics of causal attributions given for academic achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A reexamination of developmental changes in causal attributions.

Examined young children's use of the presence or absence of extrinsic reward to make inferences about the intrinsic motivation of another person. Previous research indicates that most kindergartners do not use a discounting heuristic, but it was hypothesized that these children may have misinterpreted the questions asked. 19 boys and 19 girls from kindergarten, 2nd and 4th grade were presented stories about children who were rewarded or not rewarded for performing various activities. Two forms of questioning about motivation were compared. When a traditional form was used, kindergartners did not show evidence of a discounting heuristic. When the questions were adjusted to ask more specifically about intrinsic motivation, Ss at all grade levels appeared to use a discounting heuristic. Results are discussed in terms of the parameters of the attributional effects, the possible mechanisms responsible for the phenomena, and the significance of the findings for other developmental research using self-report techniques. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and causal attributions for success and failure.

Investigated the effects of depression on causal attributions for success and failure. From a pool of 340 female university students, 60 were separated into depressed and nondepressed groups on the basis of Costello-Comrey Depression Scale scores, and then received either 20, 55, or 80% reinforcement on a word association task. Following the task, attributions were made for outcome using the 4 factors of effort, ability, task difficulty, and luck. In accord with predictions generated from a self-serving biases hypothesis, nondepressives made internal (ability, effort) attributions for a successful outcome (80% reinforcement) and external attributions (luck, task difficulty) for a failure outcome (20% reinforcement). As predicted from consideration of the self-blame component of depression, the attributions made by depressives for a failure outcome were personal or internal. Contrary to expectations, depressives also made internal attributions for a successful outcome. The findings for depressives are discussed in relation to the recently revised learned helplessness model of depression, which incorporates causal attributions. For nondepressives, the findings are considered in terms of the self-serving biases hypothesis. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of causal attributions in counseling shy subjects.

Investigated effects of differing counselor causal attribution frameworks in an analog study designed to simulate the initial phases of counseling. 36 self-referred, shy Ss (24 males, 12 females 18–44 yrs old; university graduates, undergraduates, and staff) participated in 2 structured 50-min counseling sessions. Two attribution treatments (cognitive/behavioral and analytic) were used along with a counseling control treatment that did not convey a theoretical or causal framework. It was hypothesized that the 2 causal treatments, despite vastly differing views as to the locus and stability of the source of the S's problem, would not differ significantly in effectiveness and would both be superior to the control treatment. Selected outcome measures were conceptually related to attribution theory and were in the areas of expectancy, motivation, helpfulness, and utilization of counseling material. Significant results, favoring the attribution treatments, were found on 3 out of 4 of the expectancy and motivation measures and on 2 out of 3 of the helpfulness and utilization measures. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of causal attributions on affective reactions to success and failure.

Assessed the impact of outcome (success vs failure) and attribution (internal vs external) on affect in an achievement setting. Following the theorizing of B. Weiner et al (1978, 1979), it was anticipated that the outcome manipulation would determine general positive and negative affective reactions, whereas the attribution manipulation would influence affects related to self-esteem. 53 female undergraduates received success or failure feedback on a social accuracy test and were induced to attribute their performance to either an internal (ability) or an external cause (characteristics of the task). A factor analysis revealed 3 dimensions: Negative Affect, Positive Affect, and Self-Esteem. ANOVA indicated that the nature of the attribution influenced all 3 forms of affective reactions. Success produced greater positive affect, less negative affect, and higher self-esteem than failure only when ability attributions were induced. Although additional analyses offered some support for the presence of affects influenced solely by outcome, the majority of analyses supported the notion that attributions are the primary determinants of affective reactions to success and failure. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social perception of suicide: Effects of three factors on causal attributions.

Experimental results show that, among 76 female and 83 male undergraduates, the sex of the individual described as having engaged in suicidal behavior tended to produce a significant difference in the degree of inferred intentionality, with suicidal females being seen as having greater suicidal intentionality than males. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of causal attributions about recall performance to assess metamemory and predict strategic memory behavior in young children.

27 1st graders and 24 2nd graders were exposed to a memory task in which their recall performance varied as a function of their incidentally elicited sorting behavior. When asked what had affected their recall, only some Ss at each grade identified sorting as a causal factor, although all had used sorting. Attributions about sorting could not be accounted for by differential memory for sorting behavior or by differential use of sorting on previous trials. Causal attributions, but neither previous sorting nor nonattributional verbal reports about sorting behavior, predicted use of a sorting strategy in a standard, study-recall task 1 wk later. Ss who had attributed recall to sorting tended not to use rehearsal strategies on the subsequent task, suggesting that causal attributions reflected their views about what were the most important influences on recall. Ss' ability to assess their recall performance and their insight into possible mechanisms by which sorting affects recall are discussed as avenues for future research into how children acquire their ideas about factors that affect memory. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of causal attributions in dynamic self-regulation and goal processes.

A dynamic model of self-regulation and goal process was tested with student survey responses and exam scores over successive performance episodes. A model of goal processes related to performance within episodes was developed and supported in both instances. The locus and stability dimensions of causal attributions were examined as moderators of how self-regulation and goal processes develop over time in a between-episode model. Results of the between-episode model showed stability attributions as moderating goal achievement–self-efficacy change relations following both episodes, whereas the locus attributions moderated the goal achievement–satisfaction relationship only after the first exam. Findings were discussed in terms of the evolution of goal processes over time and the use of attributional framing interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are causal attributions causal? A path analysis of the cognitive model of achievement motivation.

Tested the causal assumptions of B. Weiner's (1972, 1974, 1977) cognitive reinterpretation of the traditional theory of achievement motivation. Ss were 206 college students varying in resultant achievement motivation who experienced feelings of failure in a course test and chose to take the exam a second time under a mastery learning system. After feedback on first test performance, Ss made attributions for their initial failure, indicated degree of shame, and rated their expectancy for success on the second test opportunity. Treatment of this system of nonmanipulated variables by path analysis techniques provided little support for the contention that variations in expectancy and retest performance depend on attributions made for a previous failure. Affect depends in part on internal attributions, but in a direction opposite to predictions. An alternative interpretation of the role of cognitive attributions in the achievement process is explored. (63 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recursive retrospective revaluation of causal judgments.

Recursive causal evaluation is an iterative process in which the evaluation of a target cause, T, is based on the outcome of the evaluation of another cause, C, the evaluation of which itself depends on the evaluation of a 3rd cause, D. Retrospective revaluation consists of backward processing of information as indicated by the fact that the evaluation of T is influenced by subsequent information that is not concerned with T directly. Two experiments demonstrate recursive retrospective revaluation with contingency information presented in list format as well as with trial-by-trial acquisition. Existing associative models are unable to predict the results. The model of recursive causal disambiguation that conceptualizes the revaluation as a recursive process of disambiguation predicts the pattern of results correctly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sentencing goals, causal attributions, ideology, and personality.

Proposes a framework establishing resonances or coherent patterns among sentencing goals, causal attributions, ideology, and personality. Two studies are described, one with law and criminology students, the other with probation officers. Relations among the different types of variables reveal two resonances among both students and officers. One comprises various conservative and moralistic elements: a tough, punitive stance toward crime; belief in individual causality for crime; high scores on authoritarianism, dogmatism, and internal locus of control; lower moral stage; and political conservatism. The second comprises various liberal elements: rehabilitation, belief in economic and other external determinants of crime, higher moral stage, and belief in the powers and responsibilities of government to correct social problems. Implications are discussed for individual differences in sentencing, attribution theory, and attempts to reduce disparity. (59 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of prior diagnostic information on clinicians' causal attributions of a client's problems.

63 female social welfare students listened to a taped therapy interview, and the degree to which they attributed the client's problems to personality vs situational factors was explored. Results support the hypothesis that previous tentative diagnoses result in personality-based attributions. A recency effect suggested that personality attributions may be lessened by presenting situational information after hearing the client. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring causal attributions for success and failure: A comparison of methodologies for assessing causal dimensions.

This study evaluated the reliability and validity of three commonly used procedures for assessing the dimensional properties of causal attributions for success and failure. These methods of assessment were based on open-ended attributions for performance, importance ratings of different causes of success and failure, and the attributor's perception of his or her causal attribution for performance as assessed by the Causal Dimension Scale. Data were collected on causal attributions, expected and actual performance, subjective evaluations of performance, and affective reactions from a group of students before and after their midterm examination. Analyses were conducted to evaluate the reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and construct validity of the attribution measures. The results generally supported the use of the Causal Dimension Scale over the other methods of assessing causal dimensions. Implications of these findings for attribution research and possible improvements in the Causal Dimension Scale are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of causal attributions in public misconceptions about brain injury.

Objective: Social psychological theories such as attribution theory have been applied to conditions such as depression and physical disability, but not to traumatic brain injury (TBI). The goal of this paper is to show that that attribution theory and related concepts help to explain the public's misconceptions about TBI and other challenges faced by clinicians and families of persons with TBI. Results: Research shows that misconceptions about brain injury occur because people misattribute the actions of persons with brain injury. These misattributions reflect two features: (a) the absence of visible markers of the injury, and (b) the tendency to compare persons with TBI with their peers rather than their own preinjury performance. These two processes lead to the opposite pattern to the stigma that occurs with visible disabilities: specifically, a failure among members of the public to recognize that problematic behaviors may result from the injury. This analysis suggests several therapeutic strategies for managing public misconceptions in ways that enhance coping and recovery. Conclusion: Clarifying the attribution processes that underpin misconceptions about brain injury provides a framework for enhancing rehabilitation and addressing these misconceptions effectively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Persistence and the causal perception of failure: Modifying cognitive attributions.

In a 2-phase study with a total of 159 6th graders, the relation of persistence behavior to the causal perception of failure was examined. Ss were administered a battery of tests, including the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Scale, a modified version of the Perceptual Reasoning Test, and a circle design task. Results of Phase 1 show that temporal persistence and resistance to extinction were positively related to the attribution of failure to insufficient effort and negatively related to attributions to ability and task difficulty by both males and females. In Phase 2, the males who least frequently attributed failure to lack of effort (42 Ss) were randomly allocated to a control group or a social reinforcement group or a token plus social reinforcement attribution retraining group. At immediate and delayed posttests, experimental Ss attributed success and failure on the training task and 2 independent transfer tasks to effort significantly more than did controls. A significant increase from pretest levels on both persistence indexes paralleled the attributional change of experimental Ss. No difference was evident in the effectiveness of the 2 experimental treatments. Despite some attenuation on the transfer tasks, there was evidence of durability of training effects, and generalization of effects to an independent tester at a further 4-mo follow-up posttest. Results provide support for the attribution model of achievement motivation and provide an empirical foundation for the rationale of attribution retraining programs. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)