Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal
Published on: April 18, 2017
Problem-solving style and motivational attributions
John C Houtz1, Haifa Matos, Min-Kyung S Park
1Graduate School of Education, Fordham University, New York, NY 10023, USA. jhoutz@fordham.edu
Abstract:
52 Master's-level female graduate students completed VIEW: An Assessment of Problem Solving Style and provided attributions for their successes and failures according to several categories of reasons. Attributions were in the form of percentages to the categories of skill or ability, effort devoted to the task, task difficulty, chance, or other factors, after Weiner's theory of motivation. Women scoring as more Developer than Explorer on VIEW attributed a greater percentage of their failures to uncontrollable factors (chance and task difficulty). These results are consistent with the theory that individuals with a Developer style are more organized, deliberate, "planful," and precise in their work efforts. Thus, such individuals would more likely attribute failure to factors they had not foreseen.
Related Concept Videos
Fundamental Attribution Error
Motivational Bias
Attribution
Theory of Attribution I: Correspondent Inference Theory
Attribution Theory
Theory of Attribution II: Kelley's Covariation Theory

