Attitudes

Attitudes are evaluative statements- either favorable or unfavorable- concerning objects,

people, or events. They reflect how one feels about something.

A person can have thousands of attitudes, but OB focuses on a very limited number of
job-related attitudes. These include job satisfaction, job involvement (the degree to
which a person identifies with his or her job and actively participates in it), and
organizational commitment (an indicator of loyalty to, and identification with, the
organization).

Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction refers to an individual’s general attitude towards his or her job. A person
with a high level of job satisfaction holds positive attitudes toward the job; a person who
is dissatisfied with his or her job holds negative attitudes about the job. When people
speak of employee attitudes, more often than not they mean job satisfaction. In fact, the
two terms are frequently used interchangeably.

What Determines Job Satisfaction? What work-related variables determine job

satisfaction? The evidence indicates that the most important factors conducive to job
satisfaction are mentally challenging work, equitable rewards, supportive working
conditions, and supportive colleagues.

Aptitude Definitions

The word "Aptitude" is used to refer to many different personal characteristics. It is

frequently mis-used to mean ability or achievement. These three words: achievement,
ability and aptitude have very different meanings. Here's how to distinguish between
the three:

• Achievement - What you have accomplished (in the past)- You won an award
last year.
• Ability - What you can currently demonstrate ( now in the present) -You can do
algebra well.
• Aptitude - The quickness or ease with which you can learn (in the future) - You
want to learn to swim.

G - General Learning Ability

The ability to "catch on" or understand instructions and underlying principles; the
ability to reason, and make judgements.

Example: Closely related to doing well in school.

V - Verbal Aptitude
The ability to understand the meaning of words and to use them effectively. The
ability to understand relationships between words and to understand the meaning
of whole sentences and paragraphs.

Example: Writing a play or reading a newspaper article and being able to

understand what you read.

N - Numerical Aptitude
The ability to perform arithmetic operations quickly and accurately.

Example: How well you can use numbers or balance a checkbook or read a
graph.

S - Spatial Aptitude
The ability to think visually of geometric forms and to comprehend the two-
dimensional representation of three-dimensional objects. The ability to recognize
the relationships resulting from the movement of objects in space.

Example: making a dress from a pattern or parallel parking your car.

The Meaning of Perception

Perceptions vary from person to person. Different people perceive different things
about the same situation. But more than that, we assign different meanings to
what we perceive. And the meanings might change for a certain person. One
might change one's perspective or simply make things mean something else

In psychology and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of acquiring,

interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information.. The word perception
comes from the Latin perception-, perception, , meaning "receiving, collecting,
action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses."

There are two basic theories of perception: Passive Perception (PP) and Active
Perception (PA). The passive perception (conceived with René Descartes) is
addressed in this article and could be surmised as the following sequence of
events: surrounding - > input (senses) - > processing (brain) - > output (re-action).

Perception is one of the oldest fields within scientific psychology, and there are
correspondingly many theories about its underlying processes. The oldest quantitative
law in psychology is the Weber-Fechner law, which quantifies the relationship between
the intensity of physical stimuli and their perceptual effects. It was the study of
perception that gave rise to the Gestalt school of psychology, with its emphasis on
holistic approach. .

Motion perception

Perceived movement cannot simply be explained by the motion of an object's retinal

image since image motion caused by observer or eye movement does not lead to
perceived object movement. Moreover, an object tracked by smooth-pursuit eye
movements will appear to move, although in that case there is essentially no motion of
the object's image over the retina. Similarly, an afterimage will appear to move during
eye movement even in a completely darkened room. Where ordinarily the movement of
the retinal image caused by the moving eye is computed to signify “no object motion,”
thus yielding position constancy (since the image motion and eye motion are equal in
magnitude), the same computational rule must signify “object motion” in the case of the
afterimage.

Form perception

Form perception means the experience of a shaped region in the field. Recognition means
the experience that the shape is familiar. Identification means that the function or
meaning or category of the shape is known. For those who have never seen the shape
before, it will be perceived but not recognized or identified. For those who have, it will
be perceived as a certain familiar shape and also identified. Recognition and
identification obviously must be based on past experience, which means that through
certain unknown processes, memory contributes to the immediate experience that one
has, giving the qualities of familiarity and meaning.

This is a famous picture. What does it look like to you?

Some people see a young lady looking away. Others see an old lady looking down.
Depending on how you look at it, part of the picture might be the young woman's nose
and eyelash, or it might be a wart on the old woman's nose. What is the young woman's
ear might be the old woman's eye. What is the young woman's necklace might be the old
woman's mouth. The picture hasn't really changed. You just emphasize different parts of
it and assign them different meaning.

Look at these two arrows. Which horizontal line is the longest?

They are exactly the same size. However the top one looks longer than the bottom one. It
is on optical illusion tricking us into assigning a different meaning to what we see.

We fill in a lot of blanks with our minds. If we have incomplete perceptions, which we
practically always do to a certain extent, our minds fill in the rest.

Are those letters? Or are they just lines and blotches on the paper? How do you know?

Do you see a vase or do you see two faces looking at each other?

The meaning of something will change when you look at it differently. You can look at
anything differently and it will have a different meaning.

There is no fixed meaning to anything. You can always change perspectives and change
meanings. Why not change them to what you prefer them to be?
Intelligence Theories

Intelligence theories have evolved through a succession of paradigms which have tried to
explain and define intelligence. Many of these paradigms have been psychometric
theories, cognitive theories, cognitive-contextual theories, and biological theories.

• Psychometric Theories
• Cognitive Theories
• Cognitive-Contextual Theories
• Biological Theories

Psychometric Theories

Psychometric theories have sought to understand the structure of intelligence: the form it
takes, its categories, and its composition. Underlying psychometric intelligence theory is
a psychological model according to which intelligence is a combination of abilities that
can be measured by mental testing. These tests often include analogies,
classification/identification, and series completion. Each test score is equally weighted
according to the evidence of underlying ability in each category.

Most psychologists agree that a broader subdivision of abilities than Spearman's

classification is necessary, but only some agree with the hierarchical subdivision. It
quickly became apparent to many psychologists that there were problems that could not
be addressed by psychometric theories. The number of abilities could not be positively
identified, and the differences between them could not be clearly defined due to the
limitations of testing and analysis. However, the most significant problem extended
beyond the number of abilities: what happens in someone's mind when they are using the
ability in question? Psychometric theories had no means of addressing this issue, and
cognitive theories began to fill this gap.

Cognitive Theories

During the era of psychometric theories, people's test scores dominated the study of
intelligence. In 1957, American psychologist Lee Cronbach criticized how some
psychologists study individual differences and others study commonalties in human
behavior, but the two methods never meet. Cronbach voiced the need for the two methods
to be united, which led to the development of cognitive theories of intelligence.

Without understanding the processes underlying intelligence, we cannot come to accurate

conclusions when analyzing test scores or assessing someone's performance. Cognitive
analysis helps the interpretation of test scores by determining to what degree the score
reflects reasoning ability and the degree to which it is a result of not understanding the
questions or vocabulary. Psychometric theories did not differentiate between these two
factors, which have a significant effect on the determination of intelligence. Many people
are excellent reasoners but have modest vocabularies, and vice versa.

Underlying the cognitive approach to intelligence is the assumption that intelligence is

comprised of a set of mental representations of information, and a set of processes that
operate the mental representations. It is assumed that a more intelligent person represents
information better, and operates more quickly on these representations than does a less
intelligent person.

Several different cognitive theories of intelligence have emerged over the years. One was
introduced by Earl Hunt, Nancy Frost, and Clifford Lunneborg, who in 1973 showed one
way in which psychometric and cognitive modeling could be combined. Instead of using
conventional psychometric tests, they used tasks that allowed them to study the basis of
cognition - perception, learning, and memory. Individual differences in the tasks became
apparent, which they related to differing patterns of forming and operating mental
representations.

Several years later, Robert Sternberg suggested an alternative approach to studying

cognitive processes. He argued, based on evidence he had gathered, that there was only a
weak relationship between basic cognitive tasks and psychometric test scores because the
tasks being used were too simple. Although simple tasks involve cognitive processes,
they are peripheral rather than central.

Although opposing cognitive theories exist, they are all based on the serial processing of
information, which means that cognitive processes are executed one after another in a
series. The assumption is that we process chunks of information one at a time, trying to
combine the processes into an overall problem-solving strategy. Other psychologists have
challenged this idea, arguing that cognitive processing is parallel, meaning that we
process large amounts of information simultaneously. However, it has proved difficult to
distinguish between serial and parallel models of information processing.

Despite evidence and support for cognitive intelligence theories, a major problem
remains regarding the nature of intelligence. Cognitive theories do not take into account
that the description of intelligence may differ from one cultural group to another. Even
within mainstream cultures, it is well known that conventional tests do not reliably
predict performance. Therefore in addition to cognition, the context in which the
cognition operates also needs to be accounted for.

Cognitive-Contextual Theories

Cognitive-contextual theories address the way cognitive processes operate. The two
major cognitive-contextual theories are of Howard Gardner and Sternberg.

In 1983, Gardner proposed a theory of "multiple intelligences", arguing that there is no

single intelligence. He identified what he believed to be the seven minimal intelligences,
some of which are similar to the abilities proposed by psychometric theorists, but others
not. Gardner devised his list of intelligences from a variety of sources, including studies
of cognitive processing, brain damage, exceptional individuals, and cognition between
cultures. He suggested that whereas most concepts of intelligence had been ethnocentric
and culturally biased, his was universal.

Sternberg's "triarchic" theory of intelligence agreed with Gardner in terms of the

conventional notions of intelligence being too narrow. However, he disagreed as to how
to go beyond traditional notions. Sternberg suggested that some abilities are talents rather
than intelligences, since they are specific and are not prerequisites for adaptation to a
cultural environment. He proposed that intelligence has three aspects - not multiple
intelligences, but independent aspects that relate intelligence to what goes on internally
within someone, what goes on in the external world, and what mediates between the
internal and external worlds.

Biological Theories

Biological theories are radically different approaches to intelligence, seeking to

understand intelligence in terms of its biological basis instead of hypothetical factors or
abilities. These theorists, called reductionists, believe that a full understanding of
intelligence will only result from the identification of its biological substrates.

Those that oppose biological theories argue that they only seek to describe the
fundamental behavior behind intelligence, not explain it. However, those in favor of these
theories believe that the understanding of the biological basis of intelligence will
compliment other investigations into intelligence, and will help unlock the mystery.

The Seven Intelligences

Intelligence is not fixed, but instead is a set of abilities and skills. This is why someone
may excel in one situation, while having great difficulty with another. Intelligence
develops, and can be improved by learning to make the most of your natural abilities.
Consciously making use of your full range of intelligences leads to well-balanced
learning while promoting creativity and new ways of thinking.

Howard Gardner separated human ability into seven groups based on cognitive-
contextual intelligence theory. The abilities are collectively referred to as the Seven
Intelligences:

1. Physical: sports, car maintenance, do-it-yourself projects, woodworking, crafts,

cooking.
2. Linguistic: verbal arguments, crossword puzzles, riddles, research, poetry,
writing, giving instructions.
3. Mathematical/Logical: budgeting, planning, calculations, estimating quantities,
time management, math, sciences.
 4. Visual/Spatial: map reading/navigation, using diagrams/plans, driving, art,
dressmaking, model layouts.
5. Musical: playing music, repeating songs, rhythm, recognizing tunes, moving in
time to music, remembering slogans&verses.
6. Inter-Personal: listening, committee work, supervising others, parenting, teaching,
consoling, training others.
7. Intra-Personal: keeping a diary/journal, time management, planning and
organization, understanding your emotions, goal setting.

Aptitude and intelligence quotient are related, and in some ways opposite, views of
human mental ability. Whereas intelligence quotient sees intelligence as being a single
measurable characteristic affecting all mental ability, aptitude breaks mental ability down
into many different characteristics which are supposed to be more or less independent of
each other.

Attitude & Perception

This is a real story happened between the customer of General Motors and its customer-care
executive.

A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors:

This is the second time I have written to you, and I don't blame you for not answering me,
because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of ice cream for
dessert after dinner each night. But the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we've
eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to
the store to get it. It's also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my
trips to the store have created a problem. You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice cream, when I
start back from the store my car won't start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts
just fine.

I want you to know I'm serious about this question, no matter how silly it sounds: "What is there
about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start
whenever I get any other kind?"

The Pontiac President was understandably skeptical about the letter, but sent an engineer to
check it out anyway. The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well
educated man in a fine neighborhood.

He had arranged to meet the man just after dinnertime, so the two hopped into the car and
drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they
came back to the car, it wouldn't start. The engineer returned for three more nights.
The first night, they got chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The
car started. The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start. Now the engineer, being
a logical man, refused to believe that this man's car was allergic to vanilla ice cream.
He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem. And
toward this end he began to take notes: he jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of
gas uses, time to drive back and forth etc. In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less
time to buy vanilla than any other flavor. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store.
Vanilla, being the most popular flavor, was in a separate case at the front of the store for
quick pickup. All the other flavors were kept in the back of the store at a different counter
where it took considerably longer to check out the flavor. Now, the question for the engineer
was why the car wouldn't start when it took less time.

Once time became problem - not the vanilla ice cream, the engineer quickly came up with the
answer: "Vapor lock". It was happening every night; but the extra time taken to get the other
flavors allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, the
engine was still to hot for the vapor lock to dissipate.

Remember: Even crazy looking problems are sometimes real and all problems seem to be
simple only when we find the solution with a cool thinking.
Don't just say its "IMPOSSIBLE" without putting a sincere effort...
Observe the word "IMPOSSIBLE" carefully... You can see "I'M POSSIBLE"...

What really matters is your attitude and your perception