Wilson & Linville, 1982: Reviewing information about improving GPA over time raised GPA among first-year undergraduates and reduced dropout rates over the next year
Reference:
Wilson, T. D., & Linville, P. W. (1982). Improving the academic performance of college freshmen: Attribution therapy revisited. Journal of personality and social psychology, 42(2), 367.
Download PDFSummary:
First-year undergraduates who reported being worried about their academic performance and who received first-semester GPAs below 3.50 reviewed information that most students receive first-year grades lower than what they had anticipated but that their grades improved with time. They then viewed videos of upper-year students describing difficulties they experienced in their first year and how these improved with time. As compared to a randomized control condition, this raised GPA over the next year and reduced sophomore-year dropout rates from 25% to 5%.
Psychological Process:
What Desired Meaning is At Stake?
What is the Person Trying to Understand?
Selves (My Own and Others')How?
Psychological Question Addressed
Does struggling mean I can’t do it?Does struggling mean I can’t do it?Psychological Question Addressed
Does struggling mean I can’t do it?Psychological Process 2:
Psychological Process 3:
Social Area:
Education
Intervention Technique:
Prompting with information