Cognitive Therapy - Application To Academic Achievement

Application To Academic Achievement

Cassandra B. Whyte researched the impact of modes of counseling and educational programming on the achievement of high-risk, intellectually able, low-achieving college students. Since academic achievers tend toward internal locus of control on a continuum, efforts to help students recognize their reference point, per Julian Rotter, coupled with counseling to think and behave in more positive ways, resulted in a much higher level of academic success. Whyte found that student assumption of greater individual responsibility, though obvious external control factors impact success, resulted in a higher level of student academic achievement. Encouraging students to proactively seek academic assistance, model success behaviors, think positively, and use pragmatic-entrepreneural problem solving to achieve academic goals proved effective in regard to improved academic performance. This focus upon positive thought processing, as espoused by Aaron Beck to replace dysfunctional thinking, and including other academic assistance has been applied successfully in colleges, high schools, and corrections facilities, indicating that intelligent individuals can be taught to be successful in academic settings.