Attitude as a Conditioner of the Acquisition of New Facts among Eighth Grade Pupils

This study investigated the effects of self-reinforcement and group therapy intervention techniques in modifying the fear of failure motivation and classroom behavior of 123 male fourth- through sixth-grade inner-city economically deprived children. Results confirmed the ability of such techniques to provide success and reward experience for these children and develop internal patterns of positive reinforcement, feelings of competency, and self-esteem as measured by more realistic levels of aspiration, increases in academic performance, and decreases in a projective measure of fear of failure motivation. Classroom use of such easily trained intervention techniques by teachers was suggested.