In classic research, Dweck (1975) found that boys tend to attribute their poor performance in math to factors, whereas girls tend to attribute their poor performance in math to factors.

In classic research, Dweck (1975) found that boys tend to attribute their poor performance in math to unstable internal factors, whereas girls tend to attribute their poor performance in math to stable internal factors.

Explanation:

Here, we are talking about motives related to attribution. Notice that Dweck found that boys attribute their success in math to unstable internal factors, and girls to stable internal factors.

External and internal are related to the locus of the attribution, the "location" of the cause of success or failure. For instance, an external attribution may be the fact that the test was easy. An internal one may be our own ability in math.

Unstable and stable are related to the stability of the attribution. For instance, cramming for the exam is an unstable attribution, since the effort we put into studying may vary each time. Ability, on the other hand, is a stable one, since it lasts and has consistency.