Open‐ended Attributions for Outcome on a Major National Examination

S ummary . Free response attributions for outcome on the New Zealand School Certificate English examination were investigated. This examination is one of the major external subject‐based assessments in the New Zealand secondary school system. The study was designed to provide information on what attributions are actually made by students in response to outcome on major examinations involving high personal significance. In addition, examination outcome causes were also studied in terms of expected vs. actual examination outcome. Three hundred and eighty‐eight examinees participated in the study. The results indicated that typical and immediate effort attributions accounted for about 50 per cent of all attributions offered. Fewer attributions were made to other causes, with the English examination itself, ability, and teacher‐related factors being the main additional causes cited. Variations in attributions as a function of examination outcome (pass‐fail) and expectancy confirmation (confirm‐disconfirm) were discussed. Finally, implications for failing students were considered in terms of attribution retraining approaches

Attribution · Developmental psychology · Outcome (game theory) · Retraining · Psychology · Social Psychology · Student Assessment and Feedback