Amita is a student council member of her school who takes her commitment towards environmental preservation very seriously. She organises various plantation drives and also is in charge of the school recycle plant. She gets very upset and sad when she sees people wasting or misusing paper or cutting trees. Her parents are also famous environmentalists who campaigned for a ban of plastics in the hill areas. They always praised and motivated Amita to continue to be a pro-environment person.
How did Amita learn pro environmental attitude at home?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Learning attitudes by being rewarded
Option (1) Learning attitudes through group norms — Incorrect. Group or cultural norms are unwritten rules that everyone in a group is expected to follow. At home Amita is not following a rule of her group; her parents respond to her own behaviour.
Option (2) Learning attitudes by being rewarded — Correct. If a person is praised for showing a particular attitude, the chances are high that she will develop that attitude further. Amita’s parents always praised and motivated her to continue being pro-environment, which is learning through reward.
Option (3) Learning attitudes by being punished — Incorrect. Here an attitude forms because a behaviour brings an unpleasant result: a child who keeps falling ill because s/he eats junk food is likely to develop a negative attitude towards junk food. Amita’s parents praise her; nobody punishes her for anything.
Option (4) Learning attitude for getting promotion in life — Incorrect. A promotion is a possible gain, not a process of learning attitudes, and Amita is a school student.
Note: The original NTA paper printed Option (3) as ‘Learning attitude through exposure to information’. The official NTA Answer Key accepted both Option (2) and Option (3) as correct. Option (3) can also be defended: Amita’s parents are well-known environmentalists who campaigned for a ban on plastics, so at home she would also have received a great deal of information about the environment, and attitudes are often learnt from such information. The case, however, puts its weight on her parents’ praise and motivation, which is learning by being rewarded. Therefore, to leave a single correct answer, Option (3) has been changed to ‘Learning attitudes by being punished’, for the benefit of students.
NCERT (2025-26): “Process of Attitude Formation … Learning attitudes by being rewarded or punished : If an individual is praised for showing a particular attitude, chances are high that s/he will develop that attitude further. For example, if a teenager does yogasanas regularly, and gets the honour of being ‘Miss Good Health’ in her school, she may develop a positive attitude towards yoga and health in general. Similarly, if a child constantly falls ill because s/he eats junk food instead of proper meals, then the child is likely to develop a negative attitude towards junk food, and also a positive attitude towards eating healthy food.…” “Process of Attitude Formation … Learning attitudes through group or cultural norms : Very often, we learn attitudes through the norms of our group or culture. Norms are unwritten rules about behaviour that everyone is supposed to show under specific circumstances. Over time, these norms may become part of our social cognition, in the form of attitudes.…” “Process of Attitude Formation … Learning through exposure to information : Many attitudes are learned in a social context, but not necessarily in the physical presence of others. Today, with the huge amount of information that is being provided through various media, both positive and negative attitudes are being formed.…” |