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Karen Johnson Megan Lee Robert Romero Tammy Rewerts Zach Trainor Vanessa Short |
The human race has the need to explain the world, and continues to attribute cause to the events around us. We constantly evaluate how people perceive our behaviors, and those of others. The Attribution Theory explains the reasons for our successes and failures.
There are three constructs within the theory that define it:
*Internal vs. External (locus)
*Stable vs. Unstable (stability)
*Controllable vs. Uncontrollable (controllability)
When students explain outcomes based on themselves, they are identifying internal attributions. Students put the reasons for successes or failures on themselves, which puts all responsibility on them. Internal attributions are potentially more harmful, becuase the student attributes their failures to not being smart enough or lacking ability in general. If a student does well on a test, they will attribute this success to their effort. Conversely, when students attribute their successes and failures to outside causes, they are external attributions. If a student fails a test, they often put the blame on family members, technology, events, etc. Outside factors are outside our own control, so we feel less responsible.
With stable attributions, the cause of negative outcomes will remain the same (O'Donnell 150). Unstable attributions are expected to change. A student may attribute a good test grade to the teacher giving them a break, but they believe that the next test will not have the same outcome, so this is an unstable attribution. A student may be a physical education major, so they believe they cannot write papers. In this case, they have given up before giving it a chance; therefore, they have made a condition stable, because they expect the same outcomes every time.
Either we have control over something, or we do not. Controllability is the student's ability to control factors (O'Donnell 150). Students will attribute success on a test to the fact that they studied a lot. Oftentimes they attribute their failures to their teacher disliking them, which becomes uncontrollable. Uncontrollable attributions are not within the student's control, but can both be internal and external. One of the most important factors of attribution is the fact that it varies from student to student.
Learned Helplessness
Learned Helplessness occurs when students attribute their successes and failures to factors that are out of their control (O'Donnell 149). Students with learned helplessness primarily attribute their failure to internal, uncontrollable, stable things such as lack of ability. Those students who blame their failure on personal elements often attribute failure on an exam, for an example, to be because they “aren't smart enough,” or “I just can't do math.” When students fail a test, some will attribute their failure to the lack of studying, or their own lack of preparation for the test. Other students will attribute their failure to their low ability (Dweck 258), or that the teacher dislikes them, which they are unable to control. When students believe that they cannot control their own success or failure, a state of learned helplessness occurs. With learned helplessness, students avoid challenges (Dweck 256), become anxious over performance, view difficulties as failures, challenging problems are a threat to self-esteem, and are likely to repeat ineffective strategies and completely avoid effective strategies.
Mastery Beliefs
Mastery-oriented students seek challenges. This is a more optimistic outlook on negative outcomes. Many students have a strong desire to strive after a failure, and they look at a failure as an opportunity and a challenge to improve (Dweck 259). Instead of giving up and believing they have a low ability level, students believe that they can overcome obstacles and become successful. To succeed, mastery-oriented students create new strategies to overcome failures and pursue goals that improve their ability (Dweck 257).
How attribution affects learning:
Learned helplessness has a detrimental effect on learning. If a student fails a test, they are most likely to give up and not put any effort into future tests, because they believe that trying the first time did not get them anywhere and there is nothing they can change. Students will often avoid difficult learning opportunities, because they believe they will fail. Self-esteem is largely affected when students believe that no matter how hard they try, they will never succeed. They believe that once they fail, they will always fail.
Mastery beliefs have an optimistic outlook on failures (Dweck 259). Failures provide an opportunity to work harder and figure out new ways to eventually achieve something. These students pursue challenging tasks, because they believe that they will be successful. There is a hint of hope that they have the ability to succeed, which leads to more persistence to do well. All of these factors can boost self-esteem.
Control is a major factor in both learned helplessness and mastery beliefs. If a student feels that they have no control over outcomes, the will likely develop learned helplessness. If they feel they have control over outcomes, they can develop mastery beliefs.
The lack of control can be due to internal or external factors. An internal attribution is when a student puts all their effort into a project, and still receives a poor grade. This student may develop learned helplessness, since they feel they have no control over the outcome. An external example could be a timed test, where it is out of the students' control.
Stereotypes can influence our perceptions, so they often influence the attributions we make (Reyna 85). “Stereotypes represent a host of prepackaged expectations that have very real consequences for the beliefs and behaviors of both the user of stereotypes and for those being stereotyped” (Reyna 86). For example, someone who is of taller stature is believed to be better at basketball, so when a shorter person does not do well in basketball, he/she will often attribute it to his or her size. Many stereotypes include negative attributions which can lead to low expectations for future success.
Cultural influences also play a part in why we make attributions. If a primarily Spanish-speaking student does not do well on an English test, they will attribute their failure to their language barrier.
Attributions can also be based on our prior experiences. If you repeatedly fail at something, you begin to believe that you have a problem and attribute your failures to your abilities or lack thereof.
Teachers, parents, and peers influence the development of learned helplessness and mastery beliefs. Teachers can lose faith in students, and without even telling the student directly, they often are perceptive and figure it out.
Attributional retraining teaches students a new way to explain the bad events that happen to them. Teachers can expand students' attributions to help explain their failures. The teacher should not challenge the student's attributions, but they introduce alternative explanations. The attributions would be unstable and controllable, so the students can become more optimistic.
Teachers can help students create multiple pathways towards their goals. Knowing that a student can rely on multiple things to help them, gives them the hope that they will succeed. The teacher also needs to set the student up for success and give them everything they need to be successful.
Learned Helplessness requires support from the teacher and the parents. The student needs to see that they are able to succeed by themselves. Teachers need to set reachable goals for all students. Setting expectations above student's level of possible success will lower student's self-esteem and motivation to learn. Teachers need to continually encourage students to take risks, and effort is more important than always succeeding. Students need to see themselves as capable, so a teacher's encouragement and attainable goals can guide them through this process.
Teachers need to allow students to fail, but can point them in the right direction for success. If a student succeeds once, they are more likely to try to repeat that success. Constructive criticism can also be effective, in that it shows students that the teacher believes that they can do better. Effective teachers help students realize that failure is not a negative reflection on the student, but it is part of the learning process and it is what helps us learn. Teachers should guide students to become mastery oriented, and let them discover their own capabilities.
Calvin's motivational patterns of the attribution theory:
In terms of Calvin's motivational pattern, the primary aspect of the attribution theory that he displays is learned helplessness. Calvin often attributes his failures to an external locus, things in his environment such as his parents and the teacher. Calvin believes that his parents are at fault for his shortcomings because they are not giving him ample support, instead they only seem to add more obstacles to an already difficult task. This was shown specifically when Calvin was given a school project and spent the entire evening preparing to work on his assignment rather than actually working on it. Instead he found several ways to distract his attention and when he was finally prepared to start working on it, his mother told him it was time for bed. Instead of realizing that perhaps he could have managed his time more appropriately, he blames his mom that he does not have enough time to complete his project to the quality that he wants to. Due to his time constraint, he knows that he will not get the grade he feels he deserves and attributes his performance to the lack of time he had to complete the assignment. He also blames his academic performance on his parents in other situations as well. When Calvin decides to work on a project that requires specific materials, he blames his mother because he has inadequate materials and she won't take responsibility for completing the project for him. Calvin believes that it is his mother's responsibility to make sure that all of his school work is completed, even though it was truly his fault because he was not prepared to work on the project and procrastinated instead working on it when he should have.
Calvin also blames his failures on his teacher. He believes the poor grades he earns lower his self-esteem. When the teacher tells him that his poor grades are due to his lack of preparation, he does not agree with this idea and turns himself back into the victim. He also feels that the assessments he is given are not worth his time or effort. When he actually does know the answer, instead of just writing the answer, he goes into great depth that the test material is useless and the teacher has only taught him to manipulate the system rather than taught him any useful information.
Calvin's attribution of failure on his parents and teacher are examples of something that is external and uncontrollable. The fault lies not in himself, but in things in his environment (external). The actions of both his parents and his teacher are things that are beyond Calvin's control (uncontrollable). He cannot change his parents' minds to give him more time to work on an assignment, and he cannot change the material that his teacher assesses him on; therefore he cannot stop his failure; something else has to change in order for him to succeed.
Although Calvin does attempt to place blame on external factors that are beyond his control, he does, at times, also place blame on internal factors such as forgetfulness and low ability. These attributions are the most harmful as he is placing the blame on an internal locus. Calvin blames his poor test grade on the fact that he forgot to study for the test. He then takes this excuse to the next level and pretends to have amnesia when his dad asks him how he could possible forget to study for a test. While he does attribute his failure to his own behavior (internal), he does not show that it was something that he could control, instead he believes that it was merely his forgetfulness that caused him to fail and there was nothing he could do about it (uncontrollable).
He also places blame on his ability. When Calvin is given his test back and his teacher is astounded that he was not ashamed of his performance, he attributes his performance to his inability to perform well on tests. He believes that he does not take tests well, which is an internal factor, but it is beyond his control (uncontrollable). Therefore he believes he is incapable of performing well and gives of hope of ever succeeding. When Calvin does receive an increase in his grade, he does not attribute his success (however small it may be) to his ability, but rather to his compromising skills and the teacher's willingness to give him a break (unstable). Internal attributions are the most detrimental pattern of learned helplessness as the student does not believe that they can change their fate, they simply give up.
The other pattern associated with the attribution theory is the mastery-beliefs pattern. Typical behavior of a student who displays mastery-beliefs is striving to overcome a failure and to challenge themselves. Calvin does not tend to exude this behavior as he does not seek to challenge himself after a failure. When Calvin experiences failure, instead of assuming responsibility and learning from the experience, he finds ways to pass fault. The one time where Calvin decided to challenge himself is when he and Hobbs came along a snake and Calvin realized that he knew nothing about the snake. After prodding by Hobbes, he decided to learn more about the snake, even though he was on summer vacation. However, this attempt to gain more knowledge about snakes did not follow a failure; it was mere inquiry for more knowledge.
Why Does He Have These Patterns?
Calvin demonstrates many characteristics of learned helplessness. He often blames his teacher or his peers for bad grades and failed tests.
Calvin tends to avoid challenges that he does not come up with himself. He becomes anxious over his performance, he views his difficulties as failures, and he views challenging problems as a threat to his self esteem.
Calvin has a negative attitude toward his work and how he should perform both at home and at school. He tries time and time again to change this pattern with new techniques, but fails each time and refuses to try effective strategies.
These patterns are most likely facilitated by Calvin's teacher. She show's very little interest in helping him succeed. Also, his parents try to help him, but they give up quickly.
What Can Ms. Wormwood Do?
As demonstrated in the previous sections analyzing Calvin's behavior, it is clear the two methods will help Ms. Wormwood work with Calvin's motivation problems, 1) Mastery Experiences, and 2) Attribution Re-training. Creating mastery experiences is the most important step for Ms. Wormwood to take before attribution re-training can take place.
Creating mastery experiences involves changes within the Ms. Wormwoods style of instruction to help create success for Calvin. It is obvious that Calvin is very creative with his thinking and his approach to tests and assignments. If Ms. Wormwood were to tap into that creativity, it would offer Calvin a better opportunity to become more involved with the lesson at hand. An example on how to accomplish this would be to recognize Calvin's talent for drawing and writing creative stories, and allow him to use those talents in assignments such as presentations, giving Calvin the choice of types of short stories to write, and allow more visual products of assignments to be given. If Ms. Wormwood were to allow Calvin more choices in the style of instruction and mode of assessment, but not let me choose not to complete an assignment, Calvin will be more likely to feel as though he is in control of his learning. These activities allow Calvin to express himself in away that best utilizes his talents, and when the assignment is finished, it is extremely important for Ms. Wormwood to offer praise, recognition, and/or rewards for what he has completed rather than the typical negative recognition she gives to him. By negatively encouraging Calvin with his smart-alecky responses, she is reinforcing Calvin's ideas that he is not good enough and does not test well, and subtly informing him that the only thing he can do is write creative answers. The ideas that Calvin does not do well on tests is a learned helplessness trait as demonstrated in Comic 1, and his lack of effort when taking a test is due to negative reinforcement, is demonstrated in Comic 2.
Comic 1
Comic 2
As I previously mentioned, there are several instructional and assessment modes that Ms. Wormwood could change to help create opportunities for success. Some instructional changes that would tap in to Calvin's best talents would be: creative assignments to utilize his creative skills (creative writing, drawing, thinking up captions for comics, draw pictures to accompany written assignments, etc) and work out some study strategies for Calvin to help him apply what he knows versus giving mischievous answers. Perhaps using his creative ideas to tie with what needs to be learned for the test would help him. Another possibility for Ms. Wormwood would be to allow him the option of drawing pictures to substitute writing out answers as long as he does make an effort to complete a certain percentage of the exam in written form. By allowing Calvin to take control of his learning and what he puts into it, Ms. Wormwood can raise the expectations she has for Calvin as well as the expectations Calvin has for himself. These steps are necessary and need to happen before attribution retraining can happen.
Attribution retraining involves teaching the student, in this case the student is Calvin, a new way to explain the bad events that happen to them. For example, as was demonstrated in Comic 1, Calvin explains his bad test grade by saying that he just doesn't test well. This explanation is most likely due to the fact that is bored in class, is negatively reinforced for too creative of answers, and Ms. Wormwood does not allow Calvin to express his abilities in a positive way. In order for Ms. Wormwood to implement some of the above suggestions to help improve Calvin's learning, she would need to work on changing the ways in which she talks with Calvin. Rather than say, “Your test was an absolute disgrace!”, she could sit down and talk with Calvin about what it is he does not understand. If the problem is study habits, she could talk with him on how to better approach studying. The key to changing Calvin's perceptions on why bad things happen to him, Ms. Wormwood needs to be open to talking with Calvin and praising him when he does something well that fits in line with the structure of the classroom. Another option for Ms. Wormwood is to offer varying suggestions to help Calvin change his outlook on learning and testing. An important consideration for Ms. Wormwood to keep in mind is not to deny or challenge Calvin's excuses and attributions to why he does not perform well. If Ms. Wormwood kept these helpful hints in mind when working with Calvin, she would have a more successful opportunity in improving Calvin's negative attributions.