Exploring the interplay between attributions and metacognitive monitoring ability in a post-secondary classroom

Understanding the development of self-regulated learning (SRL) in applied educational contexts is currently an important goal for researchers. There exists a relatively rich literature for most SRL components in isolation yet the field is lacking in understanding their coordination. This study examined the relationship between metacognitive monitoring and causal attributions in a classroom setting over the duration of an academic semester. Undergraduates (N = 193) enrolled in an educational psychology course provided monitoring judgments before and after four tests and also rated their attributional responses after each test. A number of interesting findings emerged. Attributions were not found to be significant predictors of subsequent judgments of monitoring accuracy. Monitoring accuracy measured with an absolute accuracy index yielded minimal significant relationships with attributional dimensions yet a prediction bias index was found to be associated with locus of causality, stability, and personal control and postdiction bias with external control, stability, and personal control. Finally, internal attributions led to higher performance, supporting prior literature, however more stable attributions were also related to higher performance, a finding not supported by prior literature. Findings and implications are discussed with regard to the facilitation of effective academic self-regulation.