Perspectives Such as Behaviorism and Social Cognitive Theory Show Us

question 3

Essay

Perspectives such as behaviorism and social cognitive theory show us how the consequence reinforcement or punishment) of a particular behavior affects the extent to which the behavior is likely to appear again. Attribution theory has cast a new light on this notion, maintaining that the consequences of behavior will affect each person's learning and future behavior differently depending on how the individual interprets those consequences. Within the context of attribution theory:
a. Explain what motivation theorists mean when they talk about attributions.
b. Explain how learners' responses to failure are likely to be different when they attribute that failure to a controllable cause or to an uncontrollable one. Give a concrete example to illustrate your explanation.
c. Describe three specific strategies you might use to foster more productive attributions in others. In each case, use attribution theory to explain why you think the strategy should be effective.

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Definitions:

Penalties

Financial or other forms of punishment applied for violation of rules, laws, or contracts.

Critical Path

The series of tasks in a project schedule that must be finished as planned for the project to conclude by its intended deadline.

Variance

A measure of the dispersion or spread in a set of data points, indicating how much the numbers in the dataset differ from the mean.

Probability

A measure of the likelihood of a specific outcome or event occurring.