ABSTRACT
With the paradigm shift from behaviorism to cognitive information processing that occurred between the late 1950s and mid-1960s, psychologists began to take into account individuals' cognitions to explain behavior rather than focusing only on environmental variables and events. One manifestation of this shift was an emphasis on selfbeliefs, or beliefs people have about their thoughts, feelings, and actions, and those of others. In particular, educational psychologists have explored how self-beliefs are formulated, how they change with development and experience, and how they influence outcomes such as learning, motivation, self-regulation, and achievement.
