Showing papers in "Journal of Educational Psychology in 1981"
859 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that effort attribution had no significant effect either on perceived efficacy or on arithmetic performance, and that the treatment combining modeling with effort attribution produced the highest congruence between efficacy judgment and performance.
Abstract: Children showing low arithmetic achievement received either modeling of division operations or didactic instruction, followed by a practice period. During practice, half of the children in each instructional treatment received effort attribution for success and difficulty. Both instructional treatments enhanced division persistence, accuracy, and perceived efficacy, but cognitive modeling produced greater gains in accuracy. In the context of competency development, effort attribution had no significant effect either on perceived efficacy or on arithmetic performance. Perceived efficacy was an accurate predictor of arithmetic performance across levels of task difficulty and modes of treatment. The treatment combining modeling with effort attribution produced the highest congruence between efficacy judgment and performance.
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637 citations
TL;DR: This article suggested that intelligence can best be understood through the study of nonentrenched, i.e., novel, kinds of tasks, which require subjects to use concepts or form strategies that differ in kind from those to which they are accustomed.
Abstract: : This article suggests that intelligence can best be understood through the study of nonentrenched, i.e., novel, kinds of tasks. Such tasks require subjects to use concepts or form strategies that differ in kind from those to which they are accustomed. It is suggested that the only partial success of the cognitive-correlates and cognitive-components approaches to intelligence that are in contemporary favor might be due in part to the use of tasks that are more entrenched (familiar in kind) than would be optimal for the study of intelligence. Two nonentrenched tasks are described, one requiring projection into the future of states of objects, the other requiring complex analogical reasoning where multiple terms of analogies can be replaced by alternative answer options. Research into the first task focused upon performance components of task solution (i.e., components used in the execution of strategy); research into the second task focused upon metacomponents of task solution (i.e., components used in the planning of strategy). Correlations of task and component latencies were generally higher than those obtained in most contemporary information-processing research on the nature of intelligence. Some speculations are made about the implications of these results for educational theory and practice.
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TL;DR: In this article, teachers read vignettes depicting incidents involving (fictional) students who presented' chronic behavior problems, and then told how they would respond if the incidents occurred in their classrooms.
Abstract: Elementary teachers read vignettes depicting incidents involving (fictional) students who presented' chronic behavior problems, and then told how they would respond if the incidents occurred in their classrooms. Responses were coded for attributions about the students and about the teachers' roles in causing and remediating the problems. Teachers attributed controllability and intentionality.to students presenting teacher-owned problems, but not to students presenting student-owned problems. Students presenting shared problems often were seen as able to control their behavior, but not as misbehaving intentionally. The contrasting patterns of attribution seen in these three levels of problem ownership were also associated with-.contrasting patterns of goals and strategies. The data bear out expectations based on attributional analyses of helping behavior, but raise questions about teachers' preparedness to cope with problem students.
169 citations
161 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report an experimental study of the impact of textbook availability on mathematics achievement of students in Nicaraguan first-grade classes, comparing with control classes in which textbooks are relatively rare and with a radio-based instructional program that uses student worksheets but no other textual material.
Abstract: Because widespread availability of textbooks in the United States preceded research on the effectiveness of instructional materials, there has been little systematic study of their impact on student achievement. The developing world provides an appropriate setting for such studies. This article reports an experimental study of the impact of textbook availability on mathematics achievement of students in Nicaraguan first-grade classes. This intervention is compared with control classes in which textbooks are relatively rare and with a radio-based instructional program that uses student worksheets but no other textual material. Classes were assigned at random to the three conditions. The control and two treatment groups scored similarly on a pretest of mathematical readiness. Both the textbook and the radio treatments had significant positive effects on achievement. Availability of textbooks increased student posttest scores by about 3.5 items correct, approximately .33 of a standard deviation. Availability of the radio instructional program increased student posttest scores 14.9 items, about 1.5 standard deviations. Both interventions reduced the achievement gap between urban and rural students.
TL;DR: The authors used a discrete-trial reaction time methodology to measure the speed with which skilled and less-skilled readers named colors, pictures, numbers, letters, and words, and found that words were the only stimulus type that the skilled readers named more rapidly.
Abstract: A discrete-trial reaction time methodology was employed in order to measurethe speed with which skilled and less-skilled readers named colors, pictures,numbers, letters, and words. Words were the only stimulus type that theskilled readers named more rapidly. The equality of naming times for colors,pictures, and numbers suggests that a general name retrieval deficit, suggestedby earlier studies of dyslexic children, does not appear to be characteristic ofless-skilled nondyslexic children. Instead, the marked word decoding speeddifference, in conjunction with the lack of a letter naming difference betweenthe two groups, supports previous research that has suggested that phonologi-cal analysis skills may be important determinants of early reading acquisi-tion.
TL;DR: The authors examined children's cognitive-attributional and affective response patterns within competitive and individualistic goal structures, and found that effort attributions covaried with outcome in the individualistic structure, whereas luck and outcome covarecied in the competitive structure.
Abstract: Examined children's cognitive-attributional and affective response patterns within competitive and individualistic goal structures. Performing within a competitive or individualized setting was expected to influence how children utilized past performance and immediate performance outcome cues. 80 5th and 6th graders first performed individually to establish a performance history of success or failure and subsequently succeeded or failed in a competitive or individualized setting. Findings show that effort attributions covaried with outcome in the individualistic structure, whereas luck and outcome covaried in the competitive structure. Only in the individualistic structure was past performance a salient cue in determining positive or negative affective reactions. Through an attributional analysis, results are contrasted with prior research that has equated individualistic and competitive goal structures. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)
TL;DR: This paper explored the manner in which people read and use procedural information (directions) presented to them in text and illustrations and found that the use of illustrations with text was found to produce significantly more accurate performance of the task.
Abstract: : This research is designed to explore the manner in which people read and use procedural information (directions) presented to them in text and illustrations. University undergraduates read directions for the assembly of a model loading cart, assembling the model as they read. The use of illustrations with text was found to produce significantly more accurate performance of the task. Results also suggest that specific types of information are presented more effectively in texts or in illustrations. (Author)