Attributional style as a predictor of success in a first computer science course

No tests required

“…To date only 3 studies [8,11,18] have explored relationships between attributions and performance. Significant (p < .05), but weak, correlations were found between performance and attributions of success to task difficulty (r = -.10), and attributions to effort (r = .07).…”

“…Although early work focused upon using standardized aptitude testing [5] over the past fifty years, various predictors have been proposed. These include a range of demographic, psychological, academic, and cognitive factors, such as: previous programming experience [2,18,25], math background [17,24], science background [2,6], behavioral traits [2], self-esteem [4], learning styles [7,9,10], learning strategies [3], and attributions of success [8,11,18].…”

An exploration of defensive pessimism, explanatory style, and expectations in relation to the academic performance of college and university students.

“…Alphas were as follows: composite negative (CN): .69, composite positive (CP): .81, and CPCN: .62. The authors state these reliabilities were consistent with prior studies (Henry et al, 1993). Satterfield and colleagues (1997) used the ASQ with law students and reported Cronbach alphas of .73 for positive events (CP) and .74…”

“…One significant finding in this sample that supports this explanation is that there were no differences at all between those with more pessimistic explanatory styles and more optimistic explanatory styles without considering the variable of defensive pessimism. This finding goes against the majority of studies (Henry et al, 1993;Kamen & Seligman, 1985;Musgrave-Marquart et al, 1997;NolenHoeksema et al, 1986;Peterson & Barrett, 1987;Peterson et al, 1988;Petiprin & Johnson, 1991;Ritchie, 1999;Schulman et al, 1990;Sinkavich, 1994;Villanova et al, 1988) that found at least some support that pessimistic explanatory style is associated with worse academic performance, although studies (Belgrave et al, 1992;Bridges, 2001;Fazio & Palm, 1998;Houston, 1994;LaForge & Cantrell, 2003;Ralph & Mineka, 1998;Robertson, 1993;Satterfield et al, 1997;Tiggerman & Crowley, 1993) without evidence for this relationship or for evidence for the relationship in the opposite direction appear to be increasing in numbers in the literature.…”

“…Most have found support (Kamen & Seligman, 1985;Nolen-Hoeksema, Girgus, & Seligman, 1986;Peterson & Barrett, 1987;Peterson, Smith, & Pintrich, 1988;Villanova, Peterson, & Kryger, 1988) or mixed results with partial support (Henry, Martinko, & Pierce, 1993;Musgrave-Marquart, Bromley, & Dalley, 1997;Petiprin & Johnson, 1991;Ritchie, 1999;Schulman, Seligman, Kamen, Oran, Priest, & Burk, 1990;Sinkavich, 1994) for this relationship in the predicted direction, that is that pessimistic explanatory style is associated with lower academic achievement.…”