You have always thought that followers of a certain faith were narrow-minded. But you visited one of their churches and found that wasn't so. You had to adjust what you thought about this faith. This is an example of:

A. attribution.

B. cognitive dissonance.

C. discovery theory.

D. a schema.

B. Cognitive dissonance

Cognitive dissonance refers to a state of having conflicting beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. When there is a conflict between beliefs and behaviors, something must be changed in order to eliminate dissonance.

In the passage above, the first sentence exists only in the thought (believers of a certain faith are narrow-minded). It was just a belief that was not been proven yet, thus creating a dissonance. Until there’s an action being done (going to the church), you wouldn’t know that belief was wrong. That’s why there’s a change in your thought after taking an action.

Attribution is the process by which an individual explains the causes of actions and behavior. It’s like you’re only giving attributing factors as to why this action is being done. There’s no change of thought happens.

Discovery theory is an inquiry-based learning that takes place in problem-solving situations in which the past experience and existing knowledge are being used to discover facts. There’s no past experience mentioned, therefore this can’t be the answer.

A schema is just a belief common to all members in general form just like the concept of body and soul. It is a common belief to all Christians. There’s no general belief mentioned, just the general thought of an individual, therefore this isn’t the answer.

Answer B Cognitive dissonance