Aishwarya opted for the humanities stream in class XI as she was extremely fond of her history teacher in class 9 and 10. She decided to study history as she liked the way her teacher carried herself and spoke in class. Aishwarya formed her attitude by _____.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → modelling
Note: The given answer is as per the official NTA Answer Key. However, there seems to be an ambiguity in the question. NCERT’s example of learning attitudes by association, the process at work in conditioning, is that students often develop a liking for a particular subject because of the teacher. Aishwarya chose history because she was fond of her history teacher, which is the same situation, so going strictly by the book the answer would be Option (4) conditioning. NTA has probably interpreted it as Aishwarya taking her history teacher as a model, since she admired the way the teacher carried herself and spoke in class, as explained below.
Option (1) being rewarded — Incorrect. If a person is praised for showing an attitude, she is likely to develop it further, as a girl who wins the title ‘Miss Good Health’ for doing yogasanas grows fond of yoga. Nobody praised or rewarded Aishwarya for liking history.
Option (2) modelling — Correct as per the NTA answer key; however, it should have been Incorrect. Modelling means learning an attitude by observing others being rewarded or punished for expressing it, as a child who sees her parents being appreciated for respecting elders comes to value respect for elders. Aishwarya did not watch anyone being rewarded or punished for liking history; her liking for the subject grew out of her fondness for the teacher.
Option (3) cultural norms — Incorrect. Norms are unwritten rules about behaviour that everyone in a group or culture is supposed to follow, such as offering flowers at a place of worship. Choosing history is Aishwarya’s personal liking, not a rule of her group.
Option (4) conditioning — Should be Correct, but has been taken as Incorrect as per the NTA answer key. Attitudes are often learnt by association, the process at work in classical conditioning. Students see many positive qualities in a teacher, and these qualities get linked to the subject she teaches, so the students come to like the subject. Aishwarya was fond of her history teacher and liked the way she carried herself and spoke, so that liking got attached to history itself and she chose the subject.
NCERT (2025-26): “Attitude Formation … Learning attitudes by association : You might have seen that students often develop a liking for a particular subject because of the teacher. This is because they see many positive qualities in that teacher; these positive qualities get linked to the subject that s/he teaches, and ultimately get expressed in the form of liking for the subject. In other words, a positive attitude towards the subject is learned through the positive association between a teacher and a student.” “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.…” “Attitude Formation … Learning attitudes through modelling (observing others) : Often it is not through association, or through reward and punishment, that we learn attitudes. Instead, we learn them by observing others being rewarded or punished for expressing thoughts, or showing behaviour of a particular kind towards the attitude object.…” “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.…” |