The Effect of Individual Differences on Computer Attitudes

Author(s):  
Claudia Orr ◽  
David Allen ◽  
Sandra Poindexter

Computer competency is no longer a skill to be learned only by students majoring in technology-related fields. All individuals in our society must acquire basic computer literacy to function successfully. Despite the widespread influx of technology in all segments of our society, the literature often report high levels of anxiety and negative attitudes about using computers. Monitoring the computer attitudes and developing an understanding of the variables that affect computer attitudes will assist educators and adult trainers in providing appropriate learning experiences in which learners can succeed. This study examined the relationship between computer attitude and experience, demographic/education variables, personality type and learning style of 214 students enrolled in a university computer literacy course.

Author(s):  
Claudia Orr ◽  
David Allen ◽  
Sandra Poindexter

Computer competency is no longer a skill to be learned only by students majoring in technology-related fields. All individuals in our society must acquire basic computer literacy to function successfully. Despite the widespread influx of technology in all segments of our society, the literature often reports high levels of anxiety and negative attitudes about using computers. Monitoring the computer attitudes and developing an understanding of the variables that affect computer attitudes will assist educators and adult trainers in providing appropriate learning experiences in which learners can succeed. This study examined the relationship between computer attitude and experience, demographic/educational variables, personality type, and learning style of 214 students enrolled in a university computer literacy course.


1994 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis M. S. Lee ◽  
Nava Pliskin ◽  
Beverly Kahn

The proliferation of microcomputers since the early 1980s brought with it a high demand for computer literacy education in all academic disciplines as well as in the work place. Instructors of computer literacy are sometimes ineffective because they face a diversity of background among students. Based on data collected from 140 business students, we examined the relationship between performance in a computer literacy course and the students' prior achievement and knowledge. The results suggest that the students' SAT scores, high school rank, computer usage at work, and prior knowledge of programming may be used for grouping students so as to better tailor the content and pace of the computer literacy course to the students' needs.


2003 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pat C. Ames

University students' attitudes toward computers were assessed as a function of learning style. Analyses of responses provided by 232 students to a learning style assessment instrument and a computer attitude survey revealed that specific learning styles were associated with an affinity for (liking of), confidence in, and anxiety about the use of computers. Within those learning styles, gender differences were discovered when students manifested a clearly dominant style. The findings indicate that computer-based or computer-assisted instruction may not be appropriate for all students and that curriculum modifications to account for learning style differences may increase the effectiveness of and reduce the aversion to computers in the classroom. Additional research into the relationship between learning styles and computer attitudes may also provide assistance relative to increasing the enrollment of females in technology-oriented courses of study.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Magallares ◽  
Jose Francisco Morales

<p>Antifat attitudes refer to stereotyping based on people’s weight. A potential explanation for the strong negative attitudes toward obese individuals relates to people’s emotional reactions. In this study, conducted with 373 female students, it is suggested that physical disgust, germ aversion and perceived controllability of weight play a central role in explaining the individual differences that exist in antifat attitudes. Our results showed a positive relationship between physical disgust and germ aversion. Additionally, it has been found a positive correlation between physical disgust and perceived controllability of weight. Furthermore, a positive relationship between antifat attitudes, physical disgust and germ aversion was found.  Finally, perceived controllability of weight was positively related with antifat attitudes. The path analysis conducted showed the mediational effect of perceived controllability of weight in the relationship between physical disgust and antifat attitudes. Finally, it is discussed the results in the frame of antifat attitudes literature.</p>


2001 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarkan Gurbuz ◽  
Soner Yildirim ◽  
M. Yasar Ozden

This study investigated the effectiveness of two computer literacy courses (one was offered as on-line and the other one was offered through traditional methods). Two courses were compared in terms of their effectiveness on computer attitude of the student teachers and their learning experience about computers. This study also explored the other factors that contributed to changes in attitudes of the student teachers and their beliefs about computers in education. The study used data from 209 (147 female, 62 male) student teachers of which 69 of them attended to the on-line computer literacy course, and 140 of them attended to the traditional computer literacy course. Findings indicate that there is a combined effect of gender, computer literacy course type (traditional vs. on-line), whether any computer-related course was taken before, previous computer attitude and possession of home a computer on student teachers' post-attitude, toward computers. The follow-up study results were also supportive to the results of statistical analysis, and they investigated student teachers' perceptions about the computer literacy course they attended.


2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 52-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neo Tse Kian ◽  
Sahar Sabbaghan

In a diverse work environment, it’s important to have diverse managers, and people with different talents and intelligence in order to deal with different problems. The concept of learning styles is used to describe individual differences in the way people learn. According to Kolb (1984), each person has a unique way to absorb and process experiences and information. He has identified four statistically prevalent learning styles- diverging, assimilating, converging, and accommodating. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory is very helpful to recognize that people have differing aptitude in different subject areas. In the study, the participants consisted of 153 bachelor students of Management of Multimedia University of Malaysia. They were given two questionnaires, one for Kolb’s learning style and other for Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence inventory and a correlation was conducted. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between Kolb’s Learning Style and Multiple Intelligence. The relationship could be seen particularly in Abstract Conceptualization (AC) and Multiple Intelligences which were Nature, kinesthetic, music, word, interpersonal, and picture. And also a slight relationship between Concrete Experience (CE) and kinesthetic and nature. The results can be found deeper in this article.


2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 194-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Freda-Marie Hartung ◽  
Britta Renner

Humans are social animals; consequently, a lack of social ties affects individuals’ health negatively. However, the desire to belong differs between individuals, raising the question of whether individual differences in the need to belong moderate the impact of perceived social isolation on health. In the present study, 77 first-year university students rated their loneliness and health every 6 weeks for 18 weeks. Individual differences in the need to belong were found to moderate the relationship between loneliness and current health state. Specifically, lonely students with a high need to belong reported more days of illness than those with a low need to belong. In contrast, the strength of the need to belong had no effect on students who did not feel lonely. Thus, people who have a strong need to belong appear to suffer from loneliness and become ill more often, whereas people with a weak need to belong appear to stand loneliness better and are comparatively healthy. The study implies that social isolation does not impact all individuals identically; instead, the fit between the social situation and an individual’s need appears to be crucial for an individual’s functioning.


2004 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrizia Vermigli ◽  
Alessandro Toni

The present research analyzes the relationship between attachment styles at an adult age and field dependence in order to identify possible individual differences in information processing. The “Experience in Close Relationships” test of Brennan et al. was administered to a sample of 380 individuals (160 males, 220 females), while a subsample of 122 subjects was given the Embedded Figure Test to measure field dependence. Confirming the starting hypothesis, the results have shown that individuals with different attachment styles have a different way of perceiving the figure against the background. Ambivalent and avoidant individuals lie at the two extremes of the same dimension while secure individuals occupy the central part. Significant differences also emerged between males and females.


2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 176-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Furnham ◽  
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

Abstract. This study examines the relationship between students' personality and intelligence scores with their preferences for the personality profile of their lecturers. Student ratings (N = 136) of 30 lecturer trait characteristics were coded into an internally reliable Big Five taxonomy ( Costa & McCrae, 1992 ). Descriptive statistics showed that, overall, students tended to prefer conscientious, open, and stable lecturers, though correlations revealed that these preferences were largely a function of students' own personality traits. Thus, open students preferred open lecturers, while agreeable students preferred agreeable lecturers. There was evidence of a similarity effect for both Agreeableness and Openness. In addition, less intelligent students were more likely to prefer agreeable lecturers than their more intelligent counterparts were. A series of regressions showed that individual differences are particularly good predictors of preferences for agreeable lecturers, and modest, albeit significant, predictors of preferences for open and neurotic lecturers. Educational and vocational implications are considered.


2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie von Stumm

Intelligence-as-knowledge in adulthood is influenced by individual differences in intelligence-as-process (i.e., fluid intelligence) and in personality traits that determine when, where, and how people invest their intelligence over time. Here, the relationship between two investment traits (i.e., Openness to Experience and Need for Cognition), intelligence-as-process and intelligence-as-knowledge, as assessed by a battery of crystallized intelligence tests and a new knowledge measure, was examined. The results showed that (1) both investment traits were positively associated with intelligence-as-knowledge; (2) this effect was stronger for Openness to Experience than for Need for Cognition; and (3) associations between investment and intelligence-as-knowledge reduced when adjusting for intelligence-as-process but remained mostly significant.


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