Adil's parents are successful doctors. On many occasions, Adil had ob…

The correct answer is Option (3) → Learning attitudes through modelling

Option (1) Learning attitudes by association — Incorrect. Here the positive qualities of one thing get linked to another: students who see many good qualities in a teacher come to like the subject she/he teaches. Adil’s liking does not come from linking medicine with someone’s qualities; it comes from what he saw happen to his parents.

Option (2) Learning attitudes by being rewarded or punished — Incorrect. In this case the person himself/herself is praised for showing an attitude, as when a teenager who does yogasanas regularly is honoured as ‘Miss Good Health’. Adil has not been rewarded; his parents have.

Option (3) Learning attitudes through modelling — Correct. In modelling we learn attitudes by observing others being rewarded or punished for their behaviour towards the attitude object. Adil watched his parents, both doctors, being appreciated and felicitated, and so came to like medicine, just as children form respect for elders by seeing their parents respect elders and be appreciated for it.

Option (4) Learning attitudes through cultural norms — Incorrect. Here attitudes come from the unwritten rules of one’s group or culture about how everyone is supposed to behave, such as offering flowers at a place of worship. Nothing in Adil’s case is a norm that everyone follows.