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Attribution Retraining
Attribution Retraining
Attribution retraining is the process of changing maladaptive thought processes into adaptive thought processes (Graham & Taylor, 2022). This means telling yourself that skills take time and practice rather than telling yourself that you have certain traits which make you inherintly worse at certain skills.
In studies on attribution retraining, students were first chosed based upon "maladaptive behavior or cognition" (Graham & Taylor, 2022). The students are then taught that their failures are because they aren't putting in enough effort, as opposed to not having the ability to succeed.
Depending on the cause attributed to a previous outcome, students will strive for higher achievement on the next task (Graham & Taylor, 2022). For example, if a student believes they failed a math test because they're bad at math, they're much less likely to study and put effort into the next test. However, if a student believes that they failed a math test because they didn't study enough, they're more likely to make the effort to do better on the next test.
Self-Efficacy
Self-Efficacy
People's belief in their own abilities will directly affect their motivation, as someone who believes they're able to succeed will have the motivation to do what's necessary to succeed (Bandura, 1993). Additionally, parents' and teachers' beliefs in students will have a positive effect on a student's self-efficacy (Bandura et. al, 1996). A student is more likely to believe in themselves if the adults around them have faith in them.
Don't...
Don't...
Praise students for simply their effort. This can imply that your students aren't high achievers, and that they aren't able to become high achievers (Graham & Taylor, 2022). Students may attribute their failures due to you thinking that they're low achievers.
Attribute your students' success to luck. Students who believe luck plays a factor in achievement will have lower self-efficacy (Graham & Taylor, 2022). Luck is something that's uncontrollable, so students who believe luck has a say in their achievement won't put effort into achieving higher.
Offer help without being prompted. Students may believe you're offering to help because you believe they're unable to do the task themselves (Graham & Taylor, 2022). This can cause students to attribute inability to low achievement, rather than something they can control.
Do...
Do...
Let students know that you have high expectations, and that you know that they have the ability to succeed. This teaches students that they aren't innately "good" or "bad" at certain tasks (Graham & Taylor, 2022). Additionally, believing in your students' ability allows them to believe that they are able to succed. Telling your students that they have the ability to succeed prevents them from attributing failure to inability.
Make sure students are learning at an appropriate level. Work that's either too easy or too hard will show a student that their effort doesn't matter (Hunter & Barker, 1987). The attribution the student will assign to their success or failure will most likely be "this is easy" or "this is too hard".
Praise students for their process. This is different from praising them for their effort. Praising a student's process means praising the strategies and choices they made in their work (Dweck, 2010). A process is something that can be changed and improved, which means it's an attribute that students have control over.
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