Motivational level and response to academic encouragement among low-achieving college males.

Investigated the relationship between academic achievement motivation and response to academic encouragement, using 2 different counseling letters. Ss were 150 male college freshmen who had received 1 or 2 failing grades in their 1st semester. Motivation was measured by Biggs' College Opinion Survey Questionnaire. No differences were found between the experimental letter groups and no-contact controls on either posttreatment GPA or on the number of helping sources contacted by the Ss. However, the high-motivation experimental Ss had significantly higher posttreatment GPAs and fewer "F" grades than low-motivation experimental Ss. There were no differences in posttreatment GPAs or number of "F" grades between high- and low-motivation controls. Implications for the role of the university counseling center in future attempts at helping low-achieving college students are discussed. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving the academic performance of college freshmen: Attribution therapy revisited.

40 freshmen were given information indicating that on the average, college students improve their grades from the freshman to the upperclass years, and they were shown videotaped interviews of upperclassmen who reported that their GPAs had improved since their freshman year. Ss who received the information, compared to those who did not, (a) were significantly less apt to leave college by the end of the sophomore year, (b) had a significantly greater increase in GPA 1 yr after the study, and (c) performed significantly better on sample items from the Graduate Record Exam. The self-report evidence for the cognitive processes mediating these behavioral changes was weak. A more positive mood was reported only by Ss who performed a reasons analysis (i.e., who were asked to list reasons why their grades might improve). This divergent pattern of behavioral and self-report results is discussed in terms of the hypothesis that the determinants of behavioral results differ from the determinants of self-report results in self-attribution studies. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attribution therapy requestioned: A secondary analysis of the Wilson-Linville study.

Presents results of a secondary analysis of T. D. Wilson and P. W. Linville's (see record 1982-26799-001) study that reported an attributional intervention that helped college freshmen to improve their academic performance. One long-term behavioral relationship, the tendency of Ss not experiencing the attributional therapy to leave college, proved on closer scrutiny to have an implication opposite to the one required by Wilson and Linville: The departing students had higher GPAs than did the students who remained in college. The 2nd long-term behavioral relationship, a grade point increase from the 1st freshman semester to the 2nd sophomore semester, is of uncertain dependability because of regression toward the mean effects; the dependence of the finding on an anomalous, aberrant score; and the unexpected differential influence of departing Ss on the characteristics of the remaining sample. The usefulness of replicating findings that are weak or dramatic is emphasized, and a greater role is advocated for secondary analysis of published data to speed the progress of psychology. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in predicting final examination grades: The influence of past performance, attributions, and achievement motivation.

43 male and 41 female undergraduates reported their high school and last semester GPAs, their 1st and 2nd midterm grades, and their final exam predictions. Ss also rated the influence that ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck had on their performances and completed Mehrabian's achievement motivation scale. Regression analyses provided support for the attribution model of achievement expectations. All Ss used ability to explain their successes; however, males attributed failures to lack of effort while females often used luck to explain their performances. Although both sexes earned equal midterm scores and predicted similar final grades, males based their predictions solely on the 2 midterms. Females' predictions were significantly affected by both midterm performance and achievement motivation. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of grades is fleeting: A comment.

Argues that the conclusion of P. A. Mauger and C. A. Kolmodin (see record 1976-08398-001), which stated that their data did not support L. G. Humphreys's (see record 1968-19409-001) suggestion that senior college grades are much less predictable from entrance information than freshmen grades, is erroneous. Differences in methodology are attributed to the varying outcomes of the 2 studies: Mauger and Kolmodin used cumulative GPAs while Humphreys used independently computed GPAs for each of the 8 semesters of undergraduate work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of knowledge of ability test results on academic performance and test anxiety.

Administered the School and College Ability Test to 222 freshmen during the 2nd wk. of the spring semester. Ss were then assigned to groups receiving detailed, limited, or no knowledge of their test performance. Ss completed the Test Anxiety Scale during the final examination period and GPAs were collected at the end of the semester. It was hypothesized that Ss with detailed knowledge would obtain higher GPAs and have a lower level of test anxiety. No significant differences in GPAs were found among the groups. Test anxiety was higher for the detailed knowledge group (p     

Behavior of high, moderate, and low test anxious students during an actual test situation.

A 3 by 2 by 3 Test Anxiety Level by Level of Past Academic Performance by Point of Assessment factorial design was employed to examine effects on 8 dependent variables: positive thoughts; negative thoughts; evaluation, potency, and activity semantic differentials; history test grade; bodily sensations; and Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale score. Results with 231 college students indicate that low test anxious Ss differed significantly from high test anxious Ss on all 8 dependent variables. Level of test anxiety had a significant effect on each dependent variable. In addition, Ss with high GPAs received significantly higher test grades and reported more bodily sensations indicative of arousal than Ss with low GPAs. Ss assessed toward the end of the test (last 10 min) reported significantly more negative thoughts and bodily sensations than Ss assessed after reading the history test questions for the first time (beginning) or at the middle of the test. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in cognitive processes.

Studied the effects of verbal ability and sex on performance in a simultaneous matching task. The 537 undergraduates who participated were administered the verbal battery of the Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Test. Ss with high-verbal ability (high verbals) were much faster than Ss with low-verbal ability (low verbals) in making taxonomic category identity matches and homophone identity matches. Results suggest that verbal ability is related to the speed of retrieval from long-term memory. In addition, high verbals were faster in making physical identity word matches, suggesting that either lexicographically coded information stored in long-term memory is used in such a task or that verbal ability is also related to the speed of retrieval from short-term memory. As expected, males did not differ from females in the time they required to perform any of the matching tasks, although males made slightly more errors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimental prevention of underachievement among intelligent impulsive college students.

64 impulsive freshmen with Scholastic Aptitude Test scores of 1000 or more were assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: (a) paid counseling Ss were paid each time they attended a weekly counseling session; (b) paid math Ss were paid for passing a weekly math quiz; (c) paid control Ss were paid weekly with no contingent effort required; and (d) unpaid control there were no experimental interventions. 64 nonimpulsive freshmen served as controls in each of the 4 conditions. Results were that paying Ss to attend counseling sessions significantly improved their final grades. Paying Ss to study mathematics was only effective among the brighter impulsive students. It is concluded that both treatment conditions forced impulsive Ss to pay attention to their school progress on a continuing basis. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences in outcomes for users and nonusers of university counseling and psychiatric services: A 5-year accountability study.

All freshmen (1,210 men and 1,210 women) enrolled in the colleges of letters and science at a large state university were tested at entrance and followed for 4 yrs to identify use of the counseling center and psychiatric service, and for 5 yrs to determine persistence in school. Counseled Ss graduated at a higher rate within 4 yrs. Use of either service was associated with a reduced rate of leaving in bad standing, i.e., having a grade point average (GPA) below 2.0. Counseled and noncounseled Ss did not differ in initial scholastic abilities, interests, or background and these variables did not explain the difference in completion rate. GPAs of counseled and noncounseled Ss who graduated were similar. The results define a potential accountability basis for these services in terms of educational outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Persistance at a liberal arts college: A replicated, five-year longitudinal study.

Analyzed data on 1,171 freshmen entering Macalester College in 1964 and 1965 to observe factors related to persistance at the college. Voluntary withdrawals (Ss who left the college in good academic standing) did not differ from the persisters (graduates of Macalester) on precollege ability and achievement measures (including the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the Omnibus Personality Inventory, and the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values). College GPAs for the withdrawal Ss, however, revealed that these Ss did not achieve as well as the persisters. The male failures (Ss having less than a C average at time of dropping from the College) had lower achievement in high school than the withdrawals, while the female failures did less well than the withdrawals on the precollege ability tests. No generalizable differences were apparent among the groups on personality and values inventories, home proximity to the college, or participation in an experimental advising program. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-directed study skill programs for students on probation.

Paid 19 college students on probation $5.00/hr to participate in a project designed to improve grades. All Ss were taught (a) how to monitor their own study behavior; (b) the survey, question, read, recite, and review study strategy; and (c) the recommended amount of study time for different course loads. In addition, half of these Ss were given 3 hrs of instruction in principles of self-control and were shown how to set up self-administered behavior-modification programs to improve study habits. Self-control Ss succeeded in almost doubling both total study time and estimated effective study time. Overall GPAs also increased for self-control Ss. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Masculine striving" as a clue to skilled-trade interests.

A new verification scale for the Minnesota Vocational Interest Inventory (MVII) was hypothesized to serve as a Masculinity-Femininity scale when Ss answer honestly. Verification scores were compared for 117 Ss who took the MVII under normal instructions and under instructions to affect a masculine- or a feminine-oriented boy of 16. Most of the Ss were arts and science college freshmen, ? were females, and 11 were still in high school. With the normal set, males scored higher than skilled tradesmen, below the mean for chance derived scores, and far below the females. Both males and females with a masculine set scored low, the same as tradesmen. Males with a feminine set scored the same as females under a normal set, but females with a feminine set averaged the same as chance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Academic achievement and future time perspective as a cognitive–motivational concept.

251 male high school students made valence and instrumentality measurements of 23 general motivational goals (e.g., status, altruism, knowledge) classified in 3 time zones: near future, distant future, and open present. Ss with high GPAs and high study persistence attached significantly higher valence to goals in the distant future and perceived studying hard as more instrumental for reaching goals in the distant future and open present than Ss with low GPAs and low study persistence. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-consciousness and self-assessment.

Investigated the effect of self-consciousness on Ss' tendencies to seek out or avoid ability-diagnostic information by giving 30 male and 44 female undergraduates bogus feedback on task performance, initially indicating that they had either moderately high or low levels of "surgency" (an ability with which they were relatively unfamiliar). Ss were allowed to choose the composition of a 2nd surgency task by selecting test items from among several categories. For some items, but not others, performance norms were ostensibly available, allowing Ss to evaluate the adequacy of their performance on those items. Results show that private self-consciousness interacted with initial outcome so that seeking norms (after success) and avoidance of norms (after failure) occurred only among Ss who were relatively high in private self-consciousness (as measured several weeks earlier by a self-consciousness scale). (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does the Graduate Record Examination predict meaningful success in the graduate training of psychology? A case study.

The authors consider the empirical validity of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) as a predictor of various kinds of performance in a graduate psychology program, including 1st- and 2nd-year grades; professors' ratings of students' dissertations; and professors' ratings of students' analytical, creative, practical, research, and teaching abilities. On the basis of the triarchic theory of intelligence, the GRE was predicted to be of some use in predicting graduate grades but of limited or no use in predicting other aspects of performance. In fact, the test was found to be useful in predicting 1st-year grades but not other kinds of performance, with one exception—performance on the GRE Analytical test was predictive, but only for men. The authors conclude that there is a need to develop better theory-based tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in perceived accuracy of falsified personality inventory feedback.

80 college freshmen who scored near the mean on the Extraversion (E) and Neuroticism (N) scales of the Eysenck Personality Inventory were given falsified score reports stating that the Ss were either high E or low E and either high N or low N. Ss receiving low-E ("introverted") reports tended to rate the efficiency of the instrument and the accuracy of the report less favorably than did those receiving high-E reports. Females receiving low-E reports tended to make ratings signficantly lower than did males receiving low-E reports. Ss receiving high-N ("neurotic") reports rated the inventory less favorably than did those receiving low-N ("stable") reports. The lowest average ratings were made by females receiving low-E and high-N reports. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reserve capacity of the elderly in aging-sensitive tests of fluid intelligence: Replication and extension.

Investigated further the range of intellectual reserve available to aging individuals and the question of replicability in a new cultural and laboratory setting. Ss were 204 60–86 yr old healthy adults who participated in a short-term longitudinal training study. For experimental Ss, 10 sessions consisted of cognitive training involving 2 subability tests (Figural Relations, Induction) of fluid intelligence developed by the present 1st author and S. L. Willis et al (see record 1981-07746-001) and by the present 1st author and R. Blieszner et al (see record 1982-09497-001), respectively. The pattern of outcomes replicated and expanded on earlier studies. Findings show that older adults had the reserve to evince substantial increases in levels of performance in fluid intelligence tests. Transfer of training, however, was narrow in scope. Training also increased accuracy of performance and the ability to solve more difficult test items. Difficulty level was estimated in a separate study with a comparable sample of 112 elderly adults. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)