Computer attitudes and the use of computers in psychology courses

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