A. J. Biamonte
ABSTRACT
The major purpose of this paper will be to discuss the effects of attitudes on the learning of problem-solving subject matter. But before turning to the reasoning behind the implied relationship, it is important to define operationally what is meant by both problem-solving and attitudes. While the cognitive processes were one of the first aspects of behavior studied by early experimental psychologists, the terms used in discussing different types of cognitive activities (thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and creativity) have still not been clearly disentangled from one another. And, while a definition of terms cannot solve the confusion, it can still identify the point of view considered in this paper. An individual can be considered thinking when through the use of symbols or images he internally represents or “constructs a model of” the world or some aspect of it, whether that part of the world is immediately present or not (1). Thus, reverie, reminiscence, fantasy, dreaming and remembering are all thinking activities and also more directed efforts, such as reintegrating past experiences to solve a problem, or consciously weighing two courses of action to make a decision.
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Index Terms
- A study of the effect of attitudes on the learning of computer programming
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