Coping with Broken Achievement-Related Expectations in Students from Elementary School: An Experimental Study

The experiment analyzed reactions of 115 first- to fourth-graders after realizing that they performed worse than they expected in a computer game. Based on the VIOLEX model of expectation violation, we assessed immunization against achievement feedback, assimilation (striving to increase performanc e), and accommodation (willingness for expectation change). Students decreased their expectations for the next round of the game after getting...