Effects of reward-schedule parameters and attribution retraining on children’s attributions and reading persistence

Abstract

Fourth- and fifth-grade children, identified as having reading difficulties, were given persistence training on a reading task. The effects of various combinations of reward-schedule parameters and attribution retraining (effort feedback) were evaluated. Four groups of children were given either partial reward with nonsuccessive failure (PRF) or continuous reinforcement prior to partial reward (CRF-PRF), either with or without attribution retraining during an 8-day training phase. An additional group received CRF without attribution retraining (effort feedback). The results indicated an increase in reading persistence (an increase from pretest to posttest in the number of difficult sentences attempted) as a function of attribution retraining but not of reinforcement scheduling. Although attributions to lack of ability were related to low pretest reading levels and persistence, the changes in reading persistence were not accompanied by changes on any attribution measure. Taken together, these results support previous studies in documenting the efficacy of effort feedback in promoting persistence, but they do not support the hypothesized mediation of such persistence by altered attributions for failure. © 1986, Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.