Changing Attributional Style: Experiment 1

The good news is that helping children to change their attributional style can release them from this learned helplessness condition. A high-quality study demonstrating this was published by Joseph Fowler and Penelope Peterson at the University of Wisconsin.  Researchers identified poor readers who were stuck in a learned helplessness state and assigned them to an “attribution retraining” condition. These children were set up to succeed at a reading task most of the time, but they were also asked to read some difficult sentences that were included to evoke failure.  Children assigned to the attribution retraining group practiced saying certain responses when they succeeded and failed. When they succeeded, they said to themselves, “I got that right. That means I tried hard.” When they failed, they said, “No, I didn’t get that. That means I have to try harder.” 

The children were reminded of the practice of attributing success and failure to how hard they tried. After each trial, they were reminded that they should continue with their practice of silently reminding themselves of the reason they succeeded or failed.  At the end, the experimenters repeated their assessments of the children’s attributional styles and their reading performance. The intervention work very well. The children became better readers, but significantly, in just four days, the children seemed to have changed their focus from why they couldn’t succeed to the need to continue making greater effort in order to succeed.

Tips for Parents

If a child has a problem in terms of negative attributions and lack of persistence, explicit attribution retraining can help. Teach the child to make good attributions, related to effort, such as, “I got that one wrong. That means I need to try harder.” On the positive side, “I got that one right, because I have been working hard.” After a few hours of practice, elementary school children tend to improve their general attributional style and performance.


Scientific Secrets for Raising Kids Who Thrive

P. Vishton


I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. ~ 3 John 4

 

Why Big Business Hates Free Markets…And Loves Big Government

The video gives a good explanation.

There is a huge misconception, where Americans are led to believe that Government and Big Business are antagonists. We see it in Hollywood movies, and in the media all the time. Americans need government “regulations” to protect them from business. In reality, Big Business could not be happier with this slight-of-hand. They love government “regulations,” and hate the free market.