An analysis of learned helplessness: Continuous changes in performance, strategy, and achievement cognitions following failure.

Helpless children show marked performance decrements under failure, whereas mastery-oriented children often show enhanced performance. Current theories emphasize differences in the nature of the attributions following failure as determinants of response to failure. Two studies with 130 5th-grade children explored helpless vs mastery-oriented differences in the nature, timing, and relative frequency of a variety of achievement-related cognitions by continuously monitoring verbalizations following failure. Results reveal that helpless children made the expected attributions for failure to lack of ability; mastery-oriented children made surprisingly few attributions but instead engaged in self-monitoring and self-instructions. That is, helpless children focused on the cause of failure, whereas the mastery-oriented children focused on remedies for failure. These differences were accompanied by striking differences in strategy change under failure. The results suggest that in addition to the nature of the attribution one makes, the timing or even occurrence of attributions may be a critical individual difference. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internal attributions and types of depression in college students: The learned helplessness model revisited.

Tested the relation between attributions and types of depression (with and without low self-esteem) postulated by reformulated learned helplessness theory vs. an alternative (R. Janoff-Bulman; see record 1981-01320-001). 334 Ss completed the Beck Depression Inventory, Attributional Style Questionnaire, and Janis-Field Feelings of Inadequacy Scale. Scores above 8 on the Beck were considered depressed. A median split on the Janis-Field scale divided Ss into those with and without low self-esteem. Clearest support was found for Janoff-Bulman's formulations. Depressed Ss with low self-esteem made more internal characterological attributions for bad events than the other groups. Nondepressed Ss made more internal behavioral attributions than depressed Ss. The implications for counseling and future research on depression and learned helplessness are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's achievement attributions and self-reinforcement: Effects of self-concept and competitive reward structure.

Studied how self-concept as a dispositional trait influences children's achievement attributions and reinforcing behaviors in the social context of a competing or a noncompeting other. 112 5th-grade boys and girls classified as high or low in self-concept (Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale) worked in pairs at an achievement-related task in which one succeeded and one failed. Results show that high self-concept children attributed success outcomes more to their high ability and engaged in more positive self-reinforcement following success than did low self-concept children. The affective significance of achievement outcomes was accentuated in competitive settings for high but not low self-concept children. The results are discussed in terms of an attribution model of behavior. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional processes in the learned helplessness paradigm: Behavioral effects of global attributions.

Following the learned helplessness paradigm, I assessed in this study the effects of global and specific attributions for failure on the generalization of performance deficits in a dissimilar situation. Helplessness training consisted of experience with noncontingent failures on four cognitive discrimination problems attributed to either global or specific causes. Experiment 1 found that performance in a dissimilar situation was impaired following exposure to globally attributed failure. Experiment 2 examined the behavioral effects of the interaction between stable and global attributions of failure. Exposure to unsolvable problems resulted in reduced performance in a dissimilar situation only when failure was attributed to global and stable causes. Finally, Experiment 3 found that learned helplessness deficits were a product of the interaction of global and internal attribution. Performance deficits following unsolvable problems were recorded when failure was attributed to global and internal causes. Results were discussed in terms of the reformulated learned helplessness model. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of attributions for success on the alleviation of learned helplessness and depression.

Investigated the effects of attributions for success on the alleviation of mood and performance deficits of 104 19–60 yr old clinically depressed inpatients. Ss were assigned to either an acutely depressed group or an improved depressed group that was exposed to a learned helplessness induction procedure. Ss received 80% positive feedback on a task allegedly measuring social intelligence. Concurrently, Ss were exposed to experimental manipulations designed to induce attributions of this experience to 1 of 4 types of causes (internal–general, internal–specific, external–general, external–specific). Following this task, Ss' mood, expectancies, and anagram performance were assessed. Results indicate that helpless and depressed Ss who received the internal attribution manipulations reported less depressed mood than Ss in the external attribution conditions. Similarly, Ss in the general attribution conditions performed better and reported higher expectancies for success on the anagrams than Ss in the specific attribution conditions. Results are supportive of an attribution theory model of learned helplessness and depression. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-serving effect (bias?) in academic attributions: Its relation to academic achievement and self-concept.

Related the size of the self-serving effect (SSE), the tendency to accept responsibility for one's successes but not one's failures, for academic self-attributions to other academic constructs in 3 studies, 2 with 5th graders (226 and 559 Ss) and 1 with 122 9th graders. Ss completed an attribution scale and a self-concept measure, and reading achievement was assessed for 5th graders. Results from the 3 studies demonstrate that the size of the SSE was larger for (a) attributions to ability and effort than those to external causes, (b) more able students, (c) students with higher academic self-concepts, (d) students inferred to have higher academic self-concepts by teachers and by peers, and, perhaps, (e) younger students. SSEs for outcomes in mathematics and reading, particularly for attributions to ability, were content specific. The content specificity of the SSE and this logical pattern of relations among the SSEs and other variables suggest that academic achievement and academic self-concept are nonmotivational influences on the SSE. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction, control, and learned helplessness.

Examined the independent effects of perceived control over and perceived predictability of an aversive event on 100 undergraduates' performance on a memory task and depressive affect. All Ss completed the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List and the Desirability of Control Scale. Ss who received noise blasts that were both uncontrollable and unpredictable displayed performance decrements and depressive affect relative to a no-noise group, whereas Ss who were able either to control or to predict the aversive event did not. The perception of control or predictability concerning the aversive event was thus sufficient to mitigate learned helplessness, suggesting the functional equivalence of perceived control and predictability. Finally, results reveal that Ss high in the "desire for control over events" reacted to the aversive noise more than did Ss low in the desire for control. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social comparison in the classroom: The relationship between academic achievement and self-concept.

One hypothesis derived from social comparison theory is that the relationship between academic achievement and self-concept can best be understood in terms of the child's achievement standing compared with that of classmates. This hypothesis was tested on 159 6–12 yr old academic underachievers in 17 self-contained classrooms. Ss were administered the Metropolitan Achievement Test and the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. When relative within-classroom achievement standing was not considered, reading achievement was not significantly related to self-concept, although mathematics achievement was. When relative within-classroom achievement standing was considered, both reading and math achievement were found to be significantly related to self-concept. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship among self-concept, self-efficacy, and performance in mathematics during secondary school.

The relationship among self-concept, self-efficacy, and performance in mathematics was examined among 416 high school students. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing mathematics self-concept and mathematics self-efficacy. Performance was assessed using end-of-term exam results in mathematics. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the existence of two self-concept components--a competency component and an affective component. Self-efficacy items and the competency items of self-concept also loaded on a single factor. Social comparison information was equally influential in the formation of each construct. Self-efficacy beliefs, however, were identified as most highly related with performance in mathematics and percentages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of math self-concept, perceived self-efficacy, and attributions for failure and success on test anxiety.

Structural equation modeling was used to test a model of test anxiety. Variables in the model included gender, number of years since one's last math course, attributions for failure and success, math self-concept, perceived self-efficacy, achievement, general test anxiety, and statistical test anxiety. Failure and success attributions were found to influence general test anxiety and statistical test anxiety for both male and female students. Women who attributed success to behavioral causes were found to have higher levels of math self-concept than women attributing success to external causes. For men, those attributing failure to external causes were found to have higher levels of the worry component of statistical test anxiety. Math self-concept was negatively related to both general test anxiety and statistics test anxiety, whereas perceived self-efficacy had a negative relationship with the worry component of statistics anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The causal ordering of academic achievement and self-concept of ability during elementary school: A longitudinal study.

This article addresses the question of the causal ordering of self-concept of ability and academic achievement during elementary school. the questions were (a) do self-concept and achievement influence each other? and (b) Does it make a diffeence whether chievement is assessed by marks or by tests? The sample consisted of 697 students from 54 German elementary school classes. the descign of the study allowed 3 measurement waves from Grade 2 to Grade 4. Mathematics achievement was measured both by marks and by tests. The results of the structural equation modeling analyses show that it makes a difference whether achievement is (as usually) measured with only one indicator (either mark or test performance), of if both indicatory are integrated in the model. The latter model clearly supports the skill development model: In elementary school, prior self-concept does not significantly contribute to the prediction of subsequent achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's causal attributions for success and failure in achievement settings: A meta-analysis.

Conducted a meta-analysis of 25 studies (1972–1981 [appended]) on children's attributions for success and failure to test the adequacy of the egotistic bias hypothesis (that attributions are more internal for success and more external for failure) for children in Grades 1–7. Variations in the wording of attributional questions and the research context were also included as factors in the meta-analysis. Results provide support for the egotism hypothesis and indicate that both question wording and research context are important determinants of children's attributions. In general, the egotism effect was supported more for informational than for the more traditional causal wording of the attribution questions. No effects were found for grade level. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem, academic self-concept, and achievement: How the learning environment moderates the dynamics of self-concept.

The authors examine the directionality of effects between global self-esteem, domain-specific academic self-concepts, and academic achievement. Special emphasis is placed on learning environments as potential moderators of the direction of these effects. According to the meritocracy principle presented here, so-called bottom-up effects (i.e., self-esteem is influenced by academic self-concept) are more pronounced in meritocratic learning environments than in ego-protective learning environments. This hypothesis was examined using a three-wave cross-lagged panel design with a large sample of 7th graders from East and West Germany, a total of 5,648 students who were tested shortly after German reunification. Reciprocal effects were found between self-esteem, academic self-concept, and academic achievement. In conformance with the meritocracy principle, support for bottom-up effects was stronger in the meritocratic learning environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early disruptive behavior, poor school achievement, delinquent behavior, and delinquent personality: Longitudinal analyses.

Three alternative models concerning the causal links between early disruptive behavior, poor school achievement, and delinquent behavior or antisocial personality were tested with linear structural equation modeling. Ss were boys and girls followed from 1st grade to age 14 yrs. Disruptive behavior was assessed in Grade 1; school achievement was assessed in Grades 1 and 4; delinquent behavior and antisocial personality were assessed at age 14 yrs. With regard to self-reported delinquent behavior at age 14 yrs, results indicate that the best model for boys was a direct causal link between Grade 1 disruptive behavior and delinquent behavior. Poor school achievement was not a necessary causal factor. For girls, none of the tested models were a good fit to the delinquent behavior data. As for delinquent personality, results indicate that, for boys and girls, poor school achievement was a necessary component of the causal path between Grade 1 disruptive behavior and age 14 delinquent personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preschool behavior and first-grade school achievement: The mediational role of cognitive self-control.

The purpose of this study was to test a model of school achievement that included children's intellectual abilities, preschool behavior, and cognitive self-control. It suggested that teacher-rated preschool behavior such as aggressive, anxious-withdrawn, and prosocial behaviors influence cognitive self-control, which in turn positively determines school achievement at the end of first grade (when controlling for intellectual abilities). Participants were 291 kindergarten children. Results from structural equation modeling demonstrated that all hypothesized path models were significant, except the one between anxious-withdrawn behavior and cognitive self-control. A second model was thus specified in which a path between anxious-withdrawn behavior and school achievement was estimated. The second model offered a better representation of the sample data (comparative fit index?=?.99, nonnormed fit index?=?.98), χ2(19, N?=?286)?=?29.43, p?>?.05, and the path between anxious-withdrawn behavior and school achievement was found significant. The role of preschool behavior and cognitive self-control in first-grade school achievement is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inherited hypohedonia leads to learned helplessness: A conjecture updated.

The reformulated learned helplessness theory posits depressogenic explanatory style (DES) as a vulnerability factor in depression. Early-life adversity has been suggested as the source of DES, but this is contradicted by empirically established features of the learned helplessness phenomenon itself and by the evidence for human resilience in the face of adversity. This article extends a conjecture first advanced by P. E. Meehl (1975) and argues that an inherited defect in hedonic capacity would be sufficient to produce DES by causing intermittent schedules of reinforcement to be experienced as extinction schedules, resulting in a pervasive and unremitting sense of helplessness. This proposed hedonic defect also provides a means for integrating the original and reformulated versions of learned helplessness theory and for integrating learned helplessness with emerging research and theory on the biology of vulnerability to depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)