Attribution Retraining for Learning Disabled Students: Some Thoughts on the Practical Implications of the Evidence

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Abstract
Given a consistent interaction of student locus of attribution and mode of teacher response, this study sought to determine whether learning disabled students' attribution levels could be changed. The experimental procedure consisted of a reading program in which students gradually experienced a shift from a teacher-determination-of-error mode. It also included exhortations by the teachers to try harder. Two other treatment groups, a teacher-determination-of-error condition and a student-determination-of-error condition, were compared with the experimental treatment. It was hypothesized that students in the experimental group would have significantly higher levels of internal attribution for effort than the other two. Also, the greatest benefits for increased attribution for effort were predicted to accrue to those students in the experimental treatment who were initially lowest on internal attribution. Neither hypothesis was supported by the findings. The results indicate that difficulty is encountered in attempting to change students' attributions, at least when using the indirect approach proposed here.

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