Coaching Parents to Use Causal Attributions and Task Strategies When Reading with Their Children

Abstract

The present study examined the effects of attribution training with parents of children who are atrisk for failure. The effects of a combination of attribution plus specific task strategy training were compared to specific task training as they relate to parents' perceptions of their children and the children's perceptions ofthemselves. The intervention took place over a six-week period and involved sixteen parents of low achieving children in two conditions. Mothers in the attribution plus strategy condition were coached to use ability and effort attributions for children's correct responses and specific task strategies for incorrect responses on a reading task. Mothers in the specific task strategy only condition were coached to respond to their children's incorrect responses with specific task strategies on a reading task. The results indicate that mothers in the attribution plus strategy condition perceived their children to show significantly improved behavior, ability to follow directions and pay attention compared to mothers in the strategy only condition. Contrasting results were found for mothers who had high and low perceptions oftheir children prior to training. Mothers who initially rated their children low benefited more from specific task strategy training without attribution training; whereas mothers who initially rated their children high appeared to benefitfrom the attribution plus task strategy training. Children in the attribution plus strategy condition responded significantly more frequently that internal causes were the reasons for weakness in achievement. Children in the strategy only condition were more external than children in the attribution plus strategy condition about the causes of school success.