Attitudes

Presented by : Mouad Zerrouk

 Table of contents

01 02 03
Katz four attitudes
Definition Background
functions

04 05 06
Attitudes impact on
Best Practices Assessment
cognitive processes
Definition:
● Attitude can be defined as the way in which a person views and evaluates something or someone, a predisposition
or a tendency to respond positively or negatively toward a certain idea, object, person, or situation.

● It is traditionally structured along three dimensions:

 Cognitive : (perceptions and beliefs),

 Affective : (likes and dislikes, feelings, or evoked emotions),

 Behavioral : (actions or expressed intentions toward the object based upon the “cognitive” and “affective”
responses).
Background:
● A fundamental question about attitudes concerns their purpose: That is, what functions do attitudes serve?

● Understanding the purposes of attitudes is the identifying characteristic of functional theories.

● Katz (1960) proposed that any attitude held by an individual served one or more of the four distinct personality
functions. The more of these functions that contributed to an attitude system, the stronger and less likely it was that
the attitude could be changed
Katz four attitudes functions:
● Attitude change is accomplished by recognizing the function of the attitude for the individual, and designing
strategies to produce a disparity between the attitude and one or more of the attitude functions.

● Katz (1960) identified four personality functions of attitudes as follows:

Þ Utilitarian function.

Þ Knowledge function

Þ Ego-defensive-function

Þ Value-expressive function
Katz four attitudes functions:
 Utilitarian function : acknowledges the behaviorist principle that people are motivated to gain rewards and avoid
punishments from their environment. Utilitarian attitudes are instrumental in securing positive outcomes or
preventing negative ones. utilitarian beliefs are associations to stimuli.

 Knowledge function : presumes a basic human need to gain a meaningful, stable, and organized view of the world.
Attitudes supply a standard for organizing and simplifying perceptions of a complex and ambiguous environment.
Attitudes provide a way of sizing up objects and events so they can be reacted to in a meaningful way. If people's
attitudes toward school are positive, then when they are asked about schools they will be likely to say positive things
without needing to "think about it too much."
Katz four attitudes functions:
 Ego-defensive-function: emphasizes the psychoanalytic principle that people use defense mechanisms such as
denial, repression, and projection to protect their self-concepts against internal and external threats. People protect
their feelings by developing convenient, if sometimes biased, attitudes that do not require active involvement in
threatening or unfamiliar situations.

 value-expressive function: acknowledges the importance of self-expression and self-actualization.

Learning Theory of Attitudes:
The learning theory of attitudes states that attitudes can be learned and unlearned through the use of principles such as
classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning:

 Classical conditioning: involves learning a new behavior or attitude through the process of association between a
neutral stimulus and a stimulus that naturally produces a behavior. Simply put, the 2 factors are linked together to
produce a newly learned response.
Learning Theory of Attitudes:

 Operant conditioning: is a process of learning a new behavior or attitude by receiving rewards or punishments
(reinforcement) to produce a desired response. The behavior can be increased or decreased depending on the
consequences of the response. For example, an employee who receives a monetary bonus
(consequence/reinforcement) after completing a task on time will be encouraged to repeat that behavior. Similarly, a
salary reduction for arriving to work late will encourage an employee to be punctual.

 Observational learning: (also known as modeling) involves learning by watching and imitating others. For
example, a child may learn to play basketball by observing other children playing that game.
Attitudes impact on cognitive processes:
● Positive attitudes towards learning play a crucial role in shaping cognitive processes :

Þ Motivation: Positive attitudes towards learning often lead to higher motivation levels, thus, motivated
individuals are more likely to engage in the learning process.

Þ Information Processing: Individuals with a positive attitude are more likely to elaborate on new information,
connecting it to existing knowledge, and facilitating learning.
Attitudes impact on cognitive processes:

Þ Attention: Positive attitudes can enhance attention and focus on learning tasks, thus, learners will pay
attention and retain information more than others.

Þ Memory: Positive attitudes towards learning can enhance memory formation and retrieval, thus, learners with
positive attitude will be more likely to remember and recall information.
Best Practices:

 Building Positive Relationships

 Model a Positive Attitude

 Providing a Positive Environment

 Providing Constructive Feedback

 Varying Teaching Methods

Assessment:

 Observation.

 Questionnaires.

 Peer Assessments.

 Attendance.

 Portfolios.
Thank You
For Your
Attention