The interaction of attitudes toward racial membership and learning ability in school‐age children

Although prejudice exists during childhood, it is unclear how attitudes toward peers of lower or higher academic ability and from one's own or a different racial group interact. This study qualifies previous research by showing that prejudice varies according to whether children are asked to evaluate peers based on academic ability, racial membership, or both, and whether evaluations are based on cognitive, behavioural, or affective components of attitudes. Younger children, particularly girls, had greater negative biases toward lower‐ability and different‐race target children. Gender differences were specific to attitude component, age, and target child characteristics. Consistency in prejudice was found within components, but components were differentially correlated across target children. Results are discussed from a theoretical and applied perspective.     

Children’s Responses to Interparental Conflict: A Meta‐Analysis of Their Associations With Child Adjustment

A meta‐analysis examined the relations between children’s adjustment and children’s cognitive, affective, behavioral, and physiological responses to interparental conflict. Studies included children between 5 and 19 years of age. Moderate effect sizes were found for the associations between cognitions and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and self‐esteem problems, negative affect and behavioral responses and internalizing behavior problems, and behavioral responses and self‐esteem problems. Small to moderate effect sizes were found for the associations between cognitions and relational problems, negative affect and behavioral responses and externalizing behavior problems, and physiological reactions and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Effect sizes were, with 1 exception, larger for internalizing than for externalizing behavior problems. Age significantly moderated the majority of effect sizes.     

Preservice teachers’ implicit attitudes toward students with and without immigration background: A pilot study

Minority students are often disadvantaged in school. One factor contributing to this disadvantage may be teachers’ judgments; these may, in turn, be influenced by implicit attitudes. Implicit attitudes often guide automatic behavior, which comes into play when cognitive resources are restrained. This is particularly important for preservice teachers, who lack experience in the classroom. In an affective priming task, results showed ambivalent implicit attitudes toward students with immigration background and positive implicit attitudes toward native students. Such asymmetrical implicit evaluations could bias preservice teachers’ interactions with students in the classroom. Acquiring an understanding of the influence of implicit attitudes during their academic studies might help preservice teachers counter implicit and automatic influences.     

Gender Attitudes in Early Childhood: Behavioral Consequences and Cognitive Antecedents

This study examined factors that predicted children's gender intergroup attitudes at age 5 and the implications of these attitudes for intergroup behavior. Ethnically diverse children from low‐income backgrounds (N = 246; Mexican‐, Chinese‐, Dominican‐, and African American) were assessed at ages 4 and 5. On average, children reported positive same‐gender and negative other‐gender attitudes. Positive same‐gender attitudes were associated with knowledge of gender stereotypes. In contrast, positive other‐gender attitudes were associated with flexibility in gender cognitions (stereotype flexibility, gender consistency). Other‐gender attitudes predicted gender‐biased behavior. These patterns were observed in all ethnic groups. These findings suggest that early learning about gender categories shape young children's gender attitudes and that these gender attitudes already have consequences for children's intergroup behavior at age 5.     

An Exploration of Attitudes towards Modern Biotechnology: A study among Dutch secondary school students

Modern biotechnology will have a large impact on society and requires informed decision‐making and critical attitudes toward biotechnology among the public. This study aims to explore these attitudes in secondary education. For this purpose, a questionnaire was constructed according to the general tripartite theory of attitudes. A total of 574 Dutch secondary school students completed the questionnaire. Based on principal component analyses, several distinct and independent cognitive, affective, and behavioural factors were found, demonstrating that attitudes towards biotechnology are a multi‐component concept. In a cluster analysis on these factors, we found four interpretable clusters representing different groups of students. The four groups are labelled “confident supporter” (22%), “not sure” (42%), “concerned sceptic” (18%), and “not for me” (17%). These results indicate that there is a diverse appraisal of modern biotechnology among secondary school students. Suggestions for educational interventions are made.     

Is contact with people with disabilities a guarantee for positive implicit and explicit attitudes?

In the past 50 years research on attitudes toward people with disabilities has repeatedly revealed negative attitudes by predominantly using self-report measures. The main aim of the present contribution was to develop an Implicit Association Test (IAT) to assess implicit attitudes toward people with disabilities. For this purpose 47 university students majoring in special education (11 male, 36 female) were asked to complete the IAT in addition to self-reported explicit attitudes (affective, cognitive, and behavioural component). Moreover, the students were asked about the amount and perceived quality of their contact experience with people with disabilities. Results showed that participants reported on average most negative explicit attitudes in the affective, followed by the cognitive and the behavioural component. On average, students were more likely to associate the category ‘disabled’ with the attribute ‘unpleasant’ on the IAT. Overall, explicit and implicit attitudes were only weakly correlated. The amount of contact significantly predicted the three components of explicit attitudes, but not implicit attitudes. The results and limitations of this study will be discussed with respect to their implications for the educational context.     

Formative and summative assessment in Hong Kong primary schools: students’ attitudes matter

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the relationship between students’ attitudes towards formative assessment and summative assessment and aims to enrich the understanding of formative and summative assessment from the students’ perspective. A total of 3,019 Hong Kong primary school students responded to a newly developed instrument. Overall, students reported positive instrumental yet negative affective attitudes towards formative and summative assessment. Girls had less negative affective attitudes towards formative assessment, but more positive instrumental attitudes towards formative and summative assessment than boys. Grade 4 students consistently scored higher than Grade 5 and Grade 6 students in assessment attitudes. The gender and grade differences were statistically significant, but had small effect size. Moreover, it was found that students’ affective and instrumental attitudes to formative assessment positively predicted students’ affective and instrumental attitudes to summative assessment.     

Student affect and conceptual understanding in learning chemistry

This study explores the relationship between affective and cognitive variables in grade 9 chemistry students (n = 73). In particular, it explores how students' situational interest, their attitudes toward chemistry, and their chemistry‐specific self‐concept influence their understanding of chemistry concepts over the course of a school year. All affective variables were assessed at two time points: at the middle of the first semester of grade 9, and at the end of the second semester of grade 9, and then related to students' postinstructional understanding of chemical concepts. Results reveal that none of the affective variables measured at the earliest time point have a significant direct effect on postinstructional conceptual understanding. Looking at the different affective variables as intermediary constructs, however, reveals a pattern in which self‐concept and situational interest measured at the middle of grade 9 contribute to self‐concept measured at the end of grade 9, which in turn, has a positive, significant effect on students' postinstructional conceptual understanding. These results reveal the importance of a strong and positive self‐concept, the feeling of doing well in the chemistry class, for developing a meaningful understanding of scientific concepts. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 908–937, 2007     

Processes and skills underlying continuing intrinsic motivation to learn: Toward a definition of motivational skills training interventions

Continuing intrinsic motivation to learn is the result of actively generating and implementing a variety of metacognitive, cognitive, and affective processes and skills. An understanding of these processes, skills, and their interrelationships forms a basis for the design of an effective motivational skills training program. This article advances a generative process model of continuing motivation in which the central role of perceived self‐efficacy and personal control are explicated. Support for this model from current theories of learning and motivation is presented, along with implications for specific skills training interventions. It is argued that the functional purpose of motivational skills training is to promote perceptions of self‐efficacy and personal control that underlie the ability to take positive self‐control and change negative attitudes and orientations toward learning. For students with motivational deficiencies, this training is a necessary precursor to their active engagement in the learning process and execution of appropriate learning strategies and skills.     

Cross‐Ethnic Friendships and Intergroup Attitudes Among Asian American Adolescents

This study examined cross‐ethnic friendship choices and intergroup attitudes in a sample of 762 sixth‐grade Asian American students (M_age = 11.5 years) attending 1 of 19 middle schools that varied in ethnic composition. Multiple measures of friendship (quantity and quality) and intergroup attitudes (affective, cognitive, behavioral) toward White, Latino, and Black grademates were assessed. The results showed that Asian American students overnominated White students and undernominated Latino and Black students as their friends when school availability of each ethnic group was accounted for. Cross‐ethnic friendships were related to better intergroup attitudes, especially the behavioral dimension of attitudes. Cross‐ethnic friendships were least likely to change attitudes toward Blacks. Implications for future research, educational practice, and attitude intervention programs were discussed.     

“Get lucky!” Sexual content in music lyrics,videos and social media and sexual cognitions and risk among emerging adults in the USA and Australia

This study examined the relationship between sexual content in music and sexual cognitions and risk among emerging adults in the USA and Australia. Music content was examined via lyrics, videos and social media. It was hypothesised that there would be a positive association between sexual content in music and sexual cognitions and risk. Sexual content in music lyrics, videos, and social media was assessed using content analysis of the top artists rated by participants in the USA and Australia. Findings indicated variations in sexual content based on music genre and location, and that music lyrics, videos and social media all contain sexual content. Results from hierarchical regression analyses indicated that sexual lyrical content, sexual content in music videos, and sexual references in the social media posts of artists were related to negative sexual cognitions for both samples. This trend was also found for the degree of sexual risk for both samples. While findings point to the direction of a universal impact of the association between sexual content in music and sexual cognitions and degree of sexual risk, they also highlight trends in these relationships across countries.     

Reading attitudes in Vietnam: Initial study of the early school years

Whereas cognitive and linguistic factors for learning to read have been extensively studied, less is known about affective factors including children’s attitudes toward reading. Studies primarily from English-speaking and Western countries show gradual declines in reading attitudes in elementary school (McKenna et al., Reading Research Quarterly 30:626–639, 1995) and a positive association between reading attitudes and achievement (Petscher, Journal of Research in Reading 33:335–355, 2010). Children from Asian and African countries are underrepresented in this literature; whether these patterns can be generalized across cultures needs further investigation. This longitudinal study examined the reading attitudes of 84 children in Vietnam from grades 1 to 2 and their relations to reading performance, as measured by translated and adapted versions of the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey and Early Grade Reading Assessment, respectively. This sample from Vietnam showed a small decline in reading attitudes over time, particularly in attitudes toward academic reading. However, children on average reported feeling happy about reading in both grades. Correlations revealed different patterns of association between reading attitudes and performance based on the reading measure employed, grade level, and type of reading in question (academic versus recreational). In grade 2, reading attitudes explained unique variance in reading comprehension even after text fluency and mother’s education were considered. We present a margins plot to visualize the role of reading attitudes on reading comprehension. We discuss educational implications and future directions.

     

Disciplinary Foundations for Solving Interdisciplinary Scientific Problems

Problem-solving has been one of the major strands in science education research. But much of the problem-solving research has been conducted on discipline-based contexts; little research has been done on how students, especially individuals, solve interdisciplinary problems. To understand how individuals reason about interdisciplinary problems, we conducted an interview study with 16 graduate students coming from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. During the interviews, we asked participants to solve two interdisciplinary science problems on the topic of osmosis. We investigated participants’ problem reasoning processes and probed in their attitudes toward general interdisciplinary approach and specific interdisciplinary problems. Through a careful inductive content analysis of their responses, we studied how disciplinary, cognitive, and affective factors influenced their interdisciplinary problems-solving. We found that participants’ prior discipline-based science learning experiences had both positive and negative influences on their interdisciplinary problem-solving. These influences were embodied in their conceptualization of the interdisciplinary problems, the strategies they used to integrate different disciplinary knowledge, and the attitudes they had toward interdisciplinary approach in general and specific interdisciplinary problems. This study sheds light on interdisciplinary science education by revealing the complex relationship between disciplinary learning and interdisciplinary problem-solving.     

Students’ Attitudes towards Peers with Disabilities: A review of the literature

The trend towards inclusive education has led to an increase of studies focusing on peer attitudes. This review study presents an overview of studies describing attitudes of students, variables relating to students’ attitudes, and the relationship between students’ attitudes and the social participation of peers with disabilities. Based on a literature search we selected 20 studies that were conducted in seven different countries. Outcomes were described in terms of negative, neutral or positive according to three attitude components (cognitive, affective and behavioural). The results show that students generally hold neutral attitudes towards peers with disabilities. Several variables were found relating to their attitudes (i.e., gender, age, experience with and knowledge about disabilities, parental influence). Moreover, the results indicate that attitudes of peers relate to the social participation of students with disabilities. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of promoting positive attitudes of peers.     

Is There a Double Standard of Aging?: Older Men and Women and Ageism

This study was designed to determine current young adults' attitudes toward older adults and to explore, more specifically, whether they hold different attitudes towards older men and women. An additional objective was to examine the association between knowledge of aging processes and attitudes towards older adults. A total of 405 (210 males, 195 females) undergraduate students at a small Midwestern university were assessed on their attitudes toward an older male and an older female and on their knowledge of aging. Data analyses revealed that the participants showed more positive, rather than negative, attitudes towards older adults, and they rated older women significantly more positively than older men. No relationship was found between knowledge of aging processes and attitudes toward aging. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Cognitive biases in the interpretation of autonomic arousal: A test of the construal bias hypothesis

According to Bandura’s construal bias hypothesis, derived from social cognitive theory, persons with the same heightened state of autonomic arousal may experience either pleasant or deleterious emotions depending on the strength of perceived self-efficacy. The current study tested this hypothesis by proposing that college students’ preexisting efficacy beliefs may affect how physiological arousal during exams is construed as a valence of positive emotion. Survey data were collected from 172 students in a statistics course at a large research university in the Midwest. Students provided self-reported intensity of autonomic arousal during previous exams, statistics self-efficacy, and positive affect toward a proximal final exam. The construal bias hypothesis was supported by a significant interaction between autonomic arousal and self-efficacy on the dependent variable positive affect. Results revealed that as autonomic arousal increased, so did the moderating effect of self-efficacy. Specifically, as physiological arousal intensified, students with high or low self-efficacy reported divergent levels of positive emotion. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.     

Preservice teachers’ implicit attitudes toward racial minority students: Evidence from three implicit measures

Implicit attitudes can be activated by the mere presence of the attitude object. They are assumed to guide behavior in demanding situations, including the educational context. Implicit attitudes toward racial minority students could be important in contributing to the disadvantages those students experience in school. This study employed three different measures to investigate implicit attitudes toward racial minority students among preservice teachers. The IAT and the AMP showed more negative implicit attitudes toward racial minority than toward racial majority students; the affective priming task revealed that implicit attitudes toward racial majority students were positive, while those toward racial minority students were neutral. Results are discussed in their implications for preservice teachers’ judgments and behaviors.     

Improvement in Rating the Intelligence of Pupils

ABSTRACT

Field trips are effective because they situate learning and facilitate knowledge transfer, thereby influencing students learning attitudes, interests, and motivation. Variations in field trip configurations and the subsequent affective and cognitive influences provided the motivation for this study of Outside Day—an environmental education field trip for 6th-grade students. The participants were immediately postassessed on their attitudes toward the event and 1 month later assessed on their event activity recall. Results indicate the students held positive attitudes toward the field trip and recalled a hands-on orienteering activity most frequently. The discussion provides explanations and implications of findings.     

Mothers’ Implicit and Explicit Attitudes and Attributions in Relation to Self-Reported Parenting Behavior

Objective. Parenting behavior is presumed to be related to the thoughts about child behavior that parents report in a controlled and explicit manner and to more implicit parent cognitions that occur outside of conscious awareness and are less accessible to verbal report. Design. We examined mothers’ attitudes toward their children as correlates of self-reported parenting behavior. We used a combination of a self-report questionnaire and a reaction-time method (the Implicit Association Test) to assess explicit and implicit attitudes, respectively. We also assessed mothers’ implicit and explicit attributions for child misbehavior in relation to parenting, using a questionnaire measure of attributions completed under high-cognitive load (implicit attributions) or under low-cognitive load (explicit attributions). Mothers of 124, 6- to 10-year-olds (52% male) participated. Results. Attitudes assessed by self-report questionnaire and the Implicit Association Test were uniquely associated with negative parenting. The cognitive load manipulation moderated associations between attributions and parenting, such that child-blaming attributions were inversely associated with positive parenting only under conditions of high-cognitive load. Conclusions. Compared to traditional self-report questionnaires, methods such as the Implicit Association Test or cognitive load manipulations may more effectively assess implicit parent cognitions.     

Animated agent immediacy and news services with handheld computers

The present study considers the design and implementation of immediacy behaviors for an animated agent and the influence of such an agent on viewers. Immediacy, a widely studied construct in human communication research, is defined as the verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors that enhance physical and psychological closeness between people. In this study, the use of animated agent immediacy with new technology, a handheld computer, was studied as a form of affective computing. The purpose of the study was first to find out whether users perceive the communication behaviors of the agent that were intended to enhance immediacy, second, what effects animated agent immediacy has on evaluations of a news service, and third whether affective learning or recall of news content is related to agent immediacy. The results revealed that communication behaviors that enhance immediacy were perceived by the users. Those behaviors were also related to their perception of immediacy. However, the animated agent immediacy did not have a significant effect on evaluation of the news service. Additionally, agent immediacy had no effect on affective or cognitive learning from the news. The results show that it is possible to construct immediacy behaviors for the animated agents, but in this context the influences differed from those reported in human‐to‐human communication. The possibilities for and consequences of agent immediacy are also discussed, as are the reasons why the effects of immediacy on evaluations and learning were not found in the present study.