l. Discuss the internal and external conditions for the learning of attitudes.
Attitude formation is a matter of involuntary and voluntary responses to stimuli. In this regard, internal factors such as certain personality factors ( e.g., one's closed or open-mindedness and the extent to which one is an authoritarian personality), emotional states (e.g., pain or fear or joy) and perceptions of others' attitudes (e.g., attitudes of one's reference groups like church, peer, and co-worker groups) are all part of the internal response or evaluation that makes for attitude formation. Also, a part of this response are external stimuli such as how parents or significant others respond to certain attitudes (e.g., did parents punish person as a child for holding certain attitudes). Also, the
customs, mores, codes, and morals of one's sociocultural setting can also influence the formation of attitudes with behaviors that reward or punish certain attitudes.
2. Define motivation. Is it internal or external? How can it be evaluated?
There is no consensus as to a definition of motivation as definitional components and aspects can be different depending upon the theoretical approach (e.g. humanistic, behavioristic, etc.) I feel that motivation or motives are internal and consist of a complex set of psychological processes that direct people toward specific end points or goals. Because motivation is internal, it can only be evaluated via indirect assessment such as standardized, self-report questionnaires, interviews or observances of 2.
3. Assess the status of accountability in today's public schools.
Accountability is the notion that the educational system (schools, administrators, teachers) are, at least to some extent, responsible for student learning gains or losses. Unfortunately, however, legislative attempts to make schools and teachers accountable for student c...