Maria and Richard signed up for a required history course at their school. On their first test, both Maria and Richard failed. Richard was very upset about the possibility of failing the course. He immeadiately tried to transfer out of the class. He had an angry interview, with both the history teacher and the school guidance counselor. Finally he switched to a study hall.

Maria was also upset at failing the test, but she took this to mean she hadn’t worked hard enough. She asked her history teacher for help and studied as much as she could before the next test. Maria received an A on the second test and a B in the course.