Final answer:
The correct answer is option d) Cognitive evaluation.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the context of forming an attitude about a topic, you are using your intelligence in the process of cognitive evaluation. Forms of associative learning, such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning, involve learned responses to stimuli or consequences and do not necessarily involve the deliberate use of intelligence to evaluate information.
Cultural influences can shape attitudes and beliefs, but they are external factors rather than direct applications of one's intelligence in evaluation. Cognitive evaluation, on the other hand, actively engages our cognitive processes to assess information and form our personal attitudes.
Attitudes have three components: affective, behavioral, and cognitive. Cognitive dissonance refers to the tension we experience when our behavior, attitudes, and cognition are in conflict, prompting a potential change in one or more of these components to reduce dissonance. This internal process requires cognitive efforts and is closely related to the cognitive component of attitudes, where knowledge and belief play a vital role.