COMPUTER ATTITUDES AND THE USE OF COMPUTERS IN PSYCHOLOGY COURSES

Students enrolled in four psychology courses in which computers were u sed for different purposes completed both pre- and postcourse surveys regarding their prior computer experience, their attitudes toward comp uters, and their locus of control. A fifth psychology course in which computers were not; used served as a control. Results showed that part icipation in the courses that involved computer activities led to more positive attitudes toward computers than did the control condition. I n addition, the positive changes in computer attitudes were found to b e independent of initial student characteristics and unrelated to cour se performance. There was also some suggestion that courses that have higher levels of direct involvement with computer applications may lea d to the most positive attitude changes.