Describe the basic tenets of need for achievement and attribution theory. Include in your discussion the following terms: low-need achievers, high-need achievers, effort, task difficulty, luck, and ability. Also discuss how attribution theory applies to students who hold entity or incremental beliefs

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Need for achievement theory focuses on the extent to which students expect to experience success or failure on a given task, while attribution theory focuses on the explanations that students give for their experiences with success and failure. When students are asked to explain, or attribute, their success or failure at a task, they generally do so in terms of ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck.
Students with long histories of failure and a weak need for achievement, or low-need achievers, typically attribute success to the easiness of the task or to luck. They attribute failure to lack of ability. In other words, they see their failures as being their fault and their successes as being out of their control, so they are unlikely to take pride in their achievements or place a high value on rewards. Students who are success oriented, or high-need achievers, typically attribute success to their ability and effort, and attribute their failure to insufficient effort. Therefore, failure does not diminish their expectations for future success; they simply resolve to work harder next time.
Students who hold entity beliefs believe that intelligence is relatively impervious to change. These students are primarily motivated to prove themselves by getting high grades and avoiding low grades and criticism. If confidence in their own ability is low, they will likely avoid challenging tasks and tend to become discouraged at the first sign of difficulty. According to attribution theory, they continue this pattern because success is not attributed to effort, and failure is attributed to low ability that they view as unchangeable.
Students who hold incremental beliefs believe that intelligence is malleable and can gradually be improved by degrees. These students are primarily motivated to improve their cognitive skills and to engage in activities that are conducive to meaningful learning. Attribution theory would suggest that these students will explain successes in terms of ability and effort and explain failures in terms of lack of effort. They are, therefore, more likely to seek challenging tasks and to persevere in the face of difficulty.