Attribution Theory and Performance

Prior to beginning this assignment, be sure to read Chapter 4: Cognition, Learning, and the Environment

For this written assignment, you will demonstrate your understanding  of attribution theory. In essence, attribution theory states that  individuals tend to make sense of (logically prescribe) situations by  associating them to self, others, thoughts, feelings, or actions. This  theory suggests that learners should consider why they do what they do,  and what or who they are giving credit for both the victories and the  failures. Further, this theory suggests that if a person believes that  they are not good at something, they may attribute their unsuccessful  outcomes to external factors, rather than to themselves. In contrast, if  individuals have success, they more often may attribute their successes  to internal factors.

Using your required resources to support, discuss the following:

• Describe a time where you feel you have failed and blamed someone  else: the teacher, the friend, a loved one. (Failure could be academic,  relational, and/or organizational – loss of a job.)
• Do you believe that you blamed external things to support a more  stable version of your own self-image? (In other words, it could not be  your mistake). If not, what other reasons might external variables be  attributed for our own performance?
• How do think stability and controllability affect performance attributions, based on our reading this week?
• Why do you think that self-efficacy plays such a critical role in how we process our learning behaviors?
• What strategies could be applied to utilize what we know about  self-perception and attributions to increase your learning performance  in the future? (Minimum of two strategies.)