Improving academic performance
ATTITUDE AND GRADES GO HAND-IN-HAND
Think your attitude has nothing to do with your grades? Think again. An attitude is a judgment or point of view about a situation, event, or individual—your state of mind—that represents your emotions, behavior, and beliefs. In the world of psychology, attitude is a threefold response best described using the ABC model:
Affect, Behavior, and Cognition—
•
•
•
Affective response (emotion) expresses how you feel—your preference for something.
Behavioral response expresses what you do—how you act or behave in certain situations.
Cognitive response is a mental evaluation expressing what you think—your belief or point of view about a situation, event, individual, etc.
As human beings, we react to our circumstances—no matter what the situation—using our emotions, behaviors, and thoughts. Our attitude plays a big part in who we are as individuals.
So let’s talk about your attitude toward college. How does your attitude affect your academics? If you have a negative attitude toward, let’s say math, how will that affect your performance in college algebra? If you said a negative attitude creates a defeatist mentality or self-fulfilling prophecy, then you are right. Negative attitudes discourage change and growth; negative attitudes stunt the learning process.
While there is no guarantee a positive attitude about math will automatically help you learn college algebra, it does remove the self-imposed limits and opens your mind to the learning process. A positive attitude about your coursework manifests itself in powerful ways, helping you to view your situation with optimism and drive.
A positive attitude shifts your perspective and exposes your potential to change and thus learn.
Need an attitude adjustment? To change or improve your attitude, you can do one of three things: change your emotions (how you feel), change your behavior (how you act), or change your cognitive process (how you think). Forget about the
Think your attitude has nothing to do with your grades? Think again. An attitude is a judgment or point of view about a situation, event, or individual—your state of mind—that represents your emotions, behavior, and beliefs. In the world of psychology, attitude is a threefold response best described using the ABC model:
Affect, Behavior, and Cognition—
•
•
•
Affective response (emotion) expresses how you feel—your preference for something.
Behavioral response expresses what you do—how you act or behave in certain situations.
Cognitive response is a mental evaluation expressing what you think—your belief or point of view about a situation, event, individual, etc.
As human beings, we react to our circumstances—no matter what the situation—using our emotions, behaviors, and thoughts. Our attitude plays a big part in who we are as individuals.
So let’s talk about your attitude toward college. How does your attitude affect your academics? If you have a negative attitude toward, let’s say math, how will that affect your performance in college algebra? If you said a negative attitude creates a defeatist mentality or self-fulfilling prophecy, then you are right. Negative attitudes discourage change and growth; negative attitudes stunt the learning process.
While there is no guarantee a positive attitude about math will automatically help you learn college algebra, it does remove the self-imposed limits and opens your mind to the learning process. A positive attitude about your coursework manifests itself in powerful ways, helping you to view your situation with optimism and drive.
A positive attitude shifts your perspective and exposes your potential to change and thus learn.
Need an attitude adjustment? To change or improve your attitude, you can do one of three things: change your emotions (how you feel), change your behavior (how you act), or change your cognitive process (how you think). Forget about the