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THE CHILD'S UNDERSTANDING OF THE CAUSES OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS AND FAILURE: A CASE STUDY OF BRITISH SCHOOLCHILDREN
Author(s) -
LITTLE A. W.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
british journal of educational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.557
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 2044-8279
pISSN - 0007-0998
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8279.1985.tb02601.x
Subject(s) - attribution , situational ethics , luck , psychology , locus of control , developmental psychology , meaning (existential) , academic achievement , social psychology , epistemology , philosophy , psychotherapist
S ummary . Current models of the attribution process in children derive from adult models. This study examines the adequacy of current models for British children in the 5–14 age range (N = 149). Three questions are asked: (1) What types of explanation are used freely by children to explain academic success and failure? (2) How frequently are they used? (3) Do the types of explanation used by children to explain academic success and failure vary developmentally? Eighteen categories are used to classify the free responses of children to six achievement stories. The categories used by current models are useful but limited. Additional categories include different types of ability attribution and teacher‐sanctioned behaviour. Reservations are expressed about the meaning and relative importance of luck and the organising dimensions (locus, stability, control) of current taxonomical models. Using a multivariate profile analysis it was shown that the pattern of use of attribution categories varied by age. While recognising the importance of situational explanations for this trend, it was concluded that the trend was not reducible to them and that the attribution process involves a complex interaction of subjective and objective reality.