No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of the study is to determine the attitudes of teachers and students towards vocational education in the Senior Secondary School phase. The population for the study constituted senior secondary school teachers and standard eight (Grade ten) learners of the Kokstad region in the Eastern Cape Province. 270 teachers and 540 students in the nine districts of the Kokstad region, made up the samples for this research which was conducted in 27 schools. Three schools per district were purposively drawn. The use of questionnaires and interviews provided findings on attitudes towards vocational education. The research was pilot tested in two schools. The objectives of the pilot test were two fold: - to test the appropriateness of the items in the questionnaire and clarity of the wording; - to test the relevance of the open-ended questions, and whether their purpose in eliciting from teachers and students the reasons for their attitudes towards vocational education, was achieved. After each pilot testing session, items in the questionnaire were discussed and rephrased to enhance clarity. Questionnaires were dispatched timeously to both teachers and students with a fair response. Data analysis led to findings, implications and recommendations. One of the findings was that both teachers and students had positive attitudes towards vocational education in secondary schools. They recommended greater inclusion of vocational subjects in the curriculum. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key officials in the Department of Education in the Kokstad Region. Findings from the interviews indicate that the educationists that were interviewed favoured more curricular inclusion of the vocational subjects. Career guidance was recommended as a necessity by the head of the Psychological Services so as to help students in the choice of subjects for their future careers. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Durban-Westville, 1999.

The present study explored the attitudes and the expectations that educators have towards learners who are deprived by poverty. The influence of the educators' race and gender on these attitudes and expectations was explored as well as the relationship between indigent learners and their educators. The challenges that face educators on a daily basis, make teaching a particularly daunting task. In addition educators have the complex task of teaching learners who come from a diverse range of home backgrounds. These stressors combine to create a complicated learning environment. The interplay between home environmental risk factors, teacher support and learner achievement and performance is of utmost importance for eventual school success and a positive self-perception for the learner. This study was conducted by using a survey questionnaire which was completed by 53 educators (Indian and African), and semi-structured interviews with 12 indigent learners. The researcher was able to determine the emergent attitudes and expectations of educators according to the educator's race and gender. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 indigent learners to determine their relationship with their teachers and their self-perceptions. The responses to the interviews were qualitatively analysed. The findings of this study have indicated that generally, educators have positive attitudes towards indigent learners. They are supportive of these learners and try, in most instances, to plan lessons in a manner that would benefit the disadvantaged learner. With regard to race and gender, African male educators were the highest number that perceived indigent learners negatively, while African female educators appear to be the most sympathetic and held the least negative views on indigent learners. Results also indicated that the majority of educators had formed pre-conceived expectations about learner's abilities based on variables such as the home background, knowledge of siblings performances in school, dress and speech. Although African male educators had the most negative attitudes towards indigent learners, they (African male educators) also held the highest expectations of indigent learners as compared to Indian female educators who held the lowest expectations. This means that African male educators believe that indigent learners have the potential and perform relatively well in the classroom despite their poverty status. The results of the semi-structured interviews, which were qualitatively analysed, indicated that generally, the indigent learners who were interviewed, were happy at school, had friends and enjoyed a good relationship with their teachers. These learners appeared to always try hard with their schoolwork and held high career aspirations. Based on these findings, it appears that generally, the indigent learners who were interviewed had positive self-esteem based on positive relationships with their educators. The findings of this research were discussed in relation to previous findings from international literature. The study was concluded with recommendations to educators on monitoring and controlling expectance effects and bias on the achievement and social behaviour of learners. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2003.

This dissertation builds on two recent developments in attitude research, first the distinction made between two types of attitudes, i.e., explicit (deliberate, controlled) and implicit (unconscious, automatic) attitudes, and second, that made between two types of attitude conflicts, i.e., ambivalence (conflict between strong explicit positive and negative evaluative basis of the same attitude object) and duality (conflict between explicit and implicit attitudes). It uses the context of food for both its theoretical and empirical developments because there were reasons to expect that, in Western cultures, explicit attitudes are often ambivalent (i.e. positive on taste but negative on health dimensions), but might also be dual (e.g. for restrained eaters, resulting from the motivated overriding of positive attitudes toward tempting but forbidden food). / A first study (N = 199) focuses on the differences between ambivalent and dual attitudes and the influence of these conflicts on spontaneous and deliberate behavior. Results demonstrate that holding dual and ambivalent attitudes are two different constructs, although both ambivalence and duality lead to a subjective experience of conflict. Also, attitudes are weaker when ambivalent (i.e. less accessible, less stable and held with less certainty), and duality is a moderator at high levels of ambivalence, with explicit attitudes being even less accessible but nonetheless more certain when dual. Finally, the influence of, on one hand, both implicit and explicit attitudes in driving spontaneous choice and, on the other hand, the explicit attitude in determining deliberate choice (behavioral intention as proxy) is corroborated. It also appears that the influence of the implicit attitude on spontaneous behavior is increased in presence of an attitude conflict. In a second study (N = 120), the hypothesis that the existence of dual attitudes stems from inhibitive processes is tested in the context of restrained eating, through a cognitive load manipulation. Results demonstrate that the influence of the implicit attitude on spontaneous choice is stronger for restrained eaters when cognitive capacities are impaired. The second study also highlights that implicit attitudes are stable and resistant to change despite direct experience manipulations (i.e. comparative and repeated tasting). Theoretical, methodological and practical contributions are discussed.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

The present study examined the psychometric properties of a new instrument, the Multidimensional Attitude Toward Older Adults Scale (MATOAS), administered to a total of 787 undergraduate students at a Midwestern university. Factor structure of the MATOAS was investigated with a split-sampling approach in order to cross validate the findings between exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). EFA suggested a four-factor structure with 25 items. These factors were named Respect and Appreciation (R-A), Irritation and Intolerance (I-I), Work Interests (W-I), and Social Connectedness (S-C). The results of CFA testing of the higher-order four-factor model showed significant improvement in various fit indices from the previously tested tripartite attitudes model (Rosenberg & Hovland, 1960) and the uni-dimensional model.The MATOAS demonstrated fairly high internal consistency reliability (α = .88) and high test-retest reliability over a one week period (r =.89, p < .001). Convergent validity of the MATOAS with the refined version of the Aging Semantic Differential Scale (Polizzi & Millikin, 2002) and divergent validity with the 13-item Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Reynolds, 1982) also were promising. The present study provides extensive reviews of the Kogan Attitudes Toward Old People scale (Kogan, 1961 a) and the Aging Semantic Differential (Rosencranz & McNeivin, 1969) as well as established and contemporary guidelines for scale development work. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

The aim of this study was to describe false consensus in romantically involved couples. False consensus is the tendency of the perceiver to overestimate the degree to which other people agree with his or her beliefs, opinions and behavioral choices. Previous research has demonstrated false consensus in a variety of situations and circumstances, but prior to this study false consensus had not been measured in couples. This study asked two research questions: (1) Does false consensus occur at the same rate in romantically involved couples that it occurs in non-couples? (2) Does false consensus occur less in romantically involved couples in longer-term relationships? In order to examine these questions this study surveyed 143 couples using modified versions of the Relationship Beliefs Scale (RBS) and the Attitudes Toward Divorce Scale (ATDS). The scale were modified to measure false consensus by adding the question “Do you believe that your partner agrees with your view on this item?” to each item. The results indicated that while false consensus does occur in couples it occurs at a lower rate than in non-couples. This study did not find a relationship between false consensus and length of time in the relationship. Clinical implications are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services