Attitudinal orientations and cognitive functioning among adolescents.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the pattern of relations of attitudinal orientations to cognitive functioning in a sample of Israeli seventh-grade students (N = 950). Following Coleman et al.'s 1966 study, attitudinal orientations were represented by measures of locus of control, self-concept, and educational aspirations. Multiple regression analyses showed that 18.1% to 31.6% of the total variance in four measures of cognitive functioning was associated with attitudinal orientations, while only 10.6% to 18.9% of the total variance in these measures was associated with socioeconomic background variables. In the economically least advantaged group, locus of control was the most potent attitude variable; in the complementary two groups of higher socioeconomic status, more of the variance in cognitive functioning was associated with self-concept and aspirations than with locus of control.

Affective and Environmental Correlates of Cognitive Performance

“…But the correlational nature of the design does not allow the disentanglement of the reciprocity of influence between student achievement and teacher perception of attitudes (30,35,36). The moderate relations between locus of control and performance scores replicate a number of previous studies (8,16,31).…”

“…There is considerable evidence that students taught by the PSI approach perform better on examinations covering course content than students taught by a lecture approach (2 , 8, 9). Studies have also shown that student attitudes are more favorable toward PSI than toward lecture·type courses (6,11,16).…”