PSY 205 Chapter 5 - mgallen929

An Attitude is more likely to influence a person's behavior if ___.

E. The object of the attitude has important consequences for the individual

Efforts to change our attitudes by using different kinds of messages is known as ___.

D. Persuasion

The fact that we tend to pay particular attention to information that supports our attitudes and to direct our attention away from information that is contrary to our attitudes is known as ________.

A. Selective exposure

Goal orientation, a stable personal trait, can play a role in determining what sorts of persuasive messages will more effectively give rise to the desired behavior?

B. Prevention- or promotion-focused

Overall, the relationship between attitudes and behavior is ___.

B. Reliable, with some exceptions

Having not met any members of a new social group, you hear a person expressing negative views of that group. Your attitude toward the new group would not be likely influenced by hearing this negative message if ________.

C. The person expressing the attitude is someone you dislike and see as dissimilar to yourself

LaPiere's research with the Chinese couple pointed out the ___.

D. Difficulty of predicting actual behavior from reported attitudes

Messages that arouse strong levels of fear are ___.

D. Ineffective at changing behavior

Subliminal conditioning is ___.

E. Classical conditioning that occurs without our awareness of the stimuli that are used

Subliminal conditioning ___.

D. Occurs below the threshold of conscious awareness of its content

___ is our negative reaction to perceived threats to our personal freedom.

D. Reactance

We hold values similar to, and identify with, ___.

A. Members of our reference group(s)

Attitudes influence ___.

A. Social thought and behavior

Messages that provide a preliminary announcement that the message is intended to change our opinion are ________.

B. Less effective than those that do not forewarn us of this attempt

The mechanism by which we compare ourselves to other people to determine whether or not our perception of social reality is correct is known as ________.

C. Social comparison

Initial evaluation of a stimulus generally refers to ___.

D. A reaction of liking or disliking

To increase the effectiveness of a message, the communicator (source) should be credible and ________.

B. Attractive

Classical conditioning suggests that people can learn to ___.

A. Dislike stimuli to which they are initially neutral

Fishbein and Azjen's theory of planned behavior suggests that the choice of whether or not to engage in a specific behavior is determined ________.

C. Rationally

Tony disagrees with a certain political commercial. When the commercial comes on, he immediately switches the television channel. This is an example of ________.

C. Selective avoidance

Classical condition and instrumental conditioning are examples of ___ processes of attitude formation.

C. Social learning

Once an attitude has been formed; it may be ___.

E. Difficult or easy to change; depending

The strongest attitudes for an individual are usually acquired through ___.

E. Direct experience

People ___ techniques they use in order to resist attempts to persuade them.

A. Are aware of the

A message intended to reduce cheating among high school students is more likely to be effective if it is delivered by ___.

B. An attractive and popular student

Marshall wants to pledge Theta Phi fraternity. He may well ________ publicly, believing active member decision-makers will hear of his views. He is, in private, ________ to express those same views.

B. Badmouth other fraternities; unlikely

Cognitive dissonance arises when we notice a discrepancy between our attitudes and our behaviors. One way we can reduce the dissonance is by ________.

B. Coming up with justifications in support of the behavior

Counterarguments against a persuasive message are most likely to ___.

C. Decrease the effectiveness of the message

A campaign manager has advised the candidate he represents to make sure there is a "spontaneous" demonstration of support for him during the candidate's next major speech. Given that the candidate relies on his audience's peripheral processing of his emotion-laden persuasive messages, the demonstration is useful because ___.

C. Distractions can increase the persuasiveness of a speech

Juan feels unsure about the correctness of his attitude about a new rule at his job. He may feel more correct in his attitude if ________.

C. He finds out that most of his coworkers share his attitude

People tend to prefer situations that allow them to ___.

C. Maintain a match between their attitudes and behavior

Experimenters gave people strong arguments to persuade them away from a belief. Some were given coffee, others a placebo. Some were given a high distraction, others a low one. In terms of attitude change, results showed that ________.

D. Low distraction produced a higher effect in the coffee compared to placebo condition

Cognitive dissonance arises when we notice a discrepancy between our attitudes and our behaviors. One way we can reduce the dissonance is by ___.

D. Modifying either the attitude or the behavior to be more consistent with each other

Research suggests that the certainty of an attitude derives from ___.

D. A combination of clarity and perceptions of correctness

If Billy tells his friend that he intends to vote for a certain candidate, then Billy's intention reflects a(n) ________.

D. Attitude

Joe, a middle manager at a small company, strongly identifies with the higher-ups at his job. Regarding various political statements by them, it is safe to say that Joe ________.

D. Both A and B A. Recently agreed with them on a political matter B. Expects to agree with them on a political matter

One basic form of learning that helps to form our attitudes occurs when a neutral stimulus acquires the ability to cause reactions that were originally caused by another stimulus. This type of learning is known as ________.

D. Classical conditioning

The type of learning that is based on association of two or more stimuli is called ___.

D. Classical conditioning

Emma is trying to convince her professor that he gave her an unfair grade. She continues to pester him for several days, as her arguments become ever more extreme. Ultimately, the professor tells Emma, "I will not change your grade; moreover, you should be thankful for the grade you received!" Emma's professor likely resisted changing her grade because ________.

D. He felt strongly that he was being pushed to do something he didn't want to do, rather than being asked

Cognitive dissonance arises when we notice a discrepancy between our attitudes and our behaviors. One way we can reduce the dissonance is by ________.

A. Trivializing the inconsistency by concluding that the attitude or the behavior is not important, so the inconsistency is also unimportant

Our tendency to evaluate stimuli as negative or positive occurs ________ we attempt to understand the meaning of the stimuli; this suggests that attitudes reflect a(n) ________ stage of social thought.

A. Before; early

According to the elaboration-likelihood and the heuristic-systematic models of persuasion, the two key factors that will determine whether we engage in effortful or effortless processing of information are one's ________.

A. Capacity to process information and level of motivation

The central route to persuasion involves ___.

A. Careful consideration of the ideas contained by a message

People can become more resistant to attitudinal changes if they are first presented with opposing views and ___.

A. Counterarguments to the opposing views

Suppose a breaking news story has occurred involving an incident of terrorism. A certain news station invites a well-respected terrorism scholar to discuss the event. His views will likely be persuasive because he will be seen as ___.

A. Credible

Being forewarned of the persuasive intent of a message will frequently help people to resist the effects of the message. This is because ___.

A. Forewarning allows us a greater opportunity to create counterarguments

In a study, people who were at risk for serious illness, but did not see themselves as such (compared to those who accurately saw themselves as at risk) were persuaded to be tested because the persuasive message was framed in terms of ________.

A. Gains to be had rather than losses to be suffered

Wendy, Greta, Tom, and Bill have all made New Year's resolutions to lose weight. Based on the information below, which of them is MOST likely to lose weight?

A. Greta, who intends to dramatically reduce her fat intake and tells others that she is greatly committed to her diet.

By reinforcing children with smiles, hugs, or attention when they repeat things they've heard their parents say, parents are using ________ to shape their childrens' attitudes.

A. Instrumental conditioning

In Festinger and Carlsmith's classic cognitive dissonance experiment, dissonance arises because the participant, having completed the behavior s/he's been induced to perform, feels he has ________ the behavior in the ________ condition, compared to the ________ condition.

A. Insufficient justification to warrant; $1.00; $2.00

According to the process of instrumental conditioning, behavior will be displayed often by an individual if ________.

A. It is reinforced

An anti-smoking advertisement that features photographs of diseased lungs, people using oxygen tanks to offset the effects of lung disease, and funerals, but does not include information about quitting smoking, is likely to be ineffective because ________.

A. It will probably induce too much fear

Fazio's attitude-to-behavior process model suggests that an event may activate an attitude and ______, which both influence our behavior.

A. Knowledge of social norms

Tina, who favors the death penalty, hears two different, though persuasive, messages: one favoring the death penalty and one against it. Tina will likely report ___ oppositional (than supportive) thoughts about the counterattitudinal message (the message arguing against her attitude), and __ supportive (than oppositional) thoughts about the proattitudinal message (the message in line with her attitude). Because of this experience, she will be ___able to resist counterattitudinal persuasion in the future on this topic.

A. More; more; better

According to the theory of planned behavior, our behavioral intentions are determined in part by our perceptions of whether others will approve or disapprove of the behavior, our perceptions of our ability to perform the behavior, and ________.

A. Our attitudes toward a particular behavior

Simone feels somewhat ambivalent about premarital sex. However, most of her friends seem to be unambiguously in favor of sexual activity before marriage. As a result, in a recent group discussion in her health class, Simone expressed fairly strong opinions in favor of premarital sex, and was avoided voicing her real concerns about the topic. Simone's actions are most likely due to ________.

A. Pluralistic ignorance

Jason has been listening to a talk show concerning animal rights. This is an issue that he cares deeply about and he is very knowledgeable about the topic. Jason is most likely to be persuaded by ________.

A. Strong, convincing arguments

In the study involving the effects of caffeine and distraction on the effectiveness of persuasive messages, researchers found that ________ relevant to the arguments about the attitude object ________ in the ________ condition because ________.

A. The number of thoughts; increased; caffeine; attentional focus was higher on the arguments

The source of a message influences its effectiveness. To increase the effectiveness of a message, the communicator should be attractive and ________.

B. Credible

Jacque is driving, thinking about ways to get in shape. Someone cuts him off in traffic, so he gets angry and calls the driver a name. He later goes to the gym to start an exercise program. Research by ___is more likely to explain his angry behavior, while ___'s research better explains Jacque's behavior toward the exercise program.

B. Fazio; Fishbein and Ajzen

A CEO of a mid-western company gave a press briefing, and espoused some fairly restrictive regulations aimed to reduce carbon emissions and water pollution. His excellent credibility was probably due to the fact that ________.

B. He is CEO of a chemical company

An involuntary negative reaction to a member of a stigmatized group, is more likely to be the result of an ________ attitude.

B. Implicit

A form of social learning that occurs when responses to a particular stimulus lead to positive outcomes or allow the person to avoid negative outcomes is called ________.

B. Instrumental conditioning

When heuristic processing is involved, the degree of persuasion ___.

B. Is not increased by strong arguments in the message

Attitudes formed on the basis of direct personal experience with the object are generally ___.

B. More likely to have a strong effect on behavior

If we form an attitude by watching television, this is called ___ learning.

B. Observational

Which of the following examples BEST illustrates a situation where there is a gap between our attitudes and behavior?

B. Roz tells her new boyfriend that she is extremely excited to see the new James Bond movie, even though she truly dreads seeing that film.

People have a limited capacity to engage their will power in the controlling of their own thinking. This is called ________.

B. Self-regulation

An advertising company has been hired by the Centers for Disease Control to produce TV commercials to increase awareness of breast cancer in males. Advertising executives are considering three different commercials. The first features film of actual patients who describe the pain they experienced from the disease. The second focuses on medical doctors discussing early detection strategies and treatment options. The third shows grieving family members surrounding a grave. Which is likely to be more effective at changing men's behavior?

B. The second, focusing on specific information that will reduce fear

Whistle-blowers generally "blow the whistle" on corporate misbehavior because of what three attributes?

B. Their attitude is extreme, certain, and derives from personal experience

The heuristic-systematic model of persuasion suggests that ___.

B. We engage in less effortful processing when we lack ability or capacity for more careful processing

When we mistakenly believe that others' attitudes are different from our own, we are exhibiting ___.

C. Pluralistic ignorance

Assume you have a negative stereotype of fraternity/sorority members as "stuck-up." Given an IAT with photos labeled "fraternity member" or "independent, " and paired with the word "bad" or "good," your responses to the "fraternity member"/"bad" combination would likely be ________ than to "independent"/"bad" combinations.

C. Quicker

The earliest research involving persuasion, by Hovland and others, focused on what three key elements?

C. Source; message; audience

Small rewards produce greater attitude change than do large rewards when people believe they are personally responsible for the action and ___.

C. That they are responsible for any negative effects the action produced

Arlene was always averse to physical contact with pigs, because she thought pigs were essentially dirty animals. Despite her concerns, she was induced to kiss a clean-looking pig on the snout for $ 2.00 while appearing on a television game show. As a result, Arlene has become a staunch advocate of pigs, and soon plans to have one as a pet. The most probable explanation for this change in attitude is ___.

C. The less-leads-to-more effect

Cognitive dissonance is ___.

C. The negative internal state that results from noticing differences between our attitudes and our behaviors

Attitudes may be relatively stable or variable. A likely source of a change in the expression of an attitude is ________.

C. The situation in which the attitude may or may not be expressed

The first step we take in making a decision about pursuing a particular behavior is ___, according to the theory of planned behavior.

C. To consider various behavioral options

If, as Arkes and Tetlock have speculated, Jesse Jackson were to "fail" an IAT that asks about his attitudes toward African Americans, it is because ________.

D. He has good knowledge of those stereotypes, even though he does not endorse negative stereotypes of African Americans in the culture

Female participants were asked to think about either their friends or their older relatives. Later, when exposed to sexual stimuli in a "separate study," participants who had thought about their friends reacted ________ to the stimuli than participants who thought about their older relatives. This illustrates that ________ can influence one's attitude.

D. More positively; thinking about a potential audience for the expression of an attitude

In La Piere's classic study, a young Chinese couple traveled across the U.S.A. and reported being treated courteously at virtually every restaurant and hotel. A follow-up survey asking for attitudes toward Chinese travelers found that ________.

D. Most restaurant and hotel managers responded that they would refuse service to Chinese travelers

Attitudes are ___.

D. Our evaluations of different aspects of the social world

According to the theory of planned behavior, our behavioral intentions are determined in part by our perceptions of whether others will approve or disapprove of the behavior, our attitudes toward a particular behavior, and ________.

D. Our perceptions of our ability to perform the behavior

Which of the following is a condition that makes the less-leads-to-more effect likely to occur?

D. People feel personally responsible for the chosen course of action

Fazio's attitude-to-behavior process model suggests that an event may activate an attitude, which influences our ________.

D. Perceptions of the attitude object

One reason that distractions may increase the persuasiveness of a message is because distractions ________.

D. Prevent systematic processing of the message content

Bethany has been listening to a political speaker who is encouraging people to support a law that would require all people to recycle aluminum cans, and severely penalize those who do not recycle. The speaker is giving strong arguments in favor of this proposed law and is couching his appeal in moral and ethical language. As a result, Bethany is becoming increasingly annoyed and resentful of the speaker and his arguments. She may be experiencing ________.

D. Reactants

Messages that arouse moderate levels of fear are effective at changing behavior if ___.

D. They include specific information about steps we can take to reduce the fear

In an experiment, males and females were shown a snack labeled "men's favorite" or "women's favorite." The snack labeled as preferred by their own gender was liked better by high-gender-identified participants more so than by participants who were low-gender-identified. This showed that ________.

D. Unlike high-gender-identified people, low-gender-identified people will likely exhibit little preference for snacks that are labeled as preferred by their gender

Cognitive dissonance arises when we notice a discrepancy between our attitudes and our behaviors. One way we can reduce the dissonance is by ___.

D. Using self-affirmation, whereby we restore positive self-evaluations by focusing our attention on positive self-attributes

In what health context might positive messages be much better than fear-inducing messages for effecting behavior change?

D. When the message's health concern is very serious or fatal

Marcus felt clearer about his attitude regarding a school policy after meeting with other students about it. The change came about because ________.

E. He was able to repeatedly express his own attitude about the policy

Susan expresses indignation about illegal immigrants to one group of friends, but advocates for amnesty to another group. This is possible for her because ________.

E. Members of the two groups never talk to each other

According to the theory of planned behavior, our behavioral intentions are partially determined by our attitudes toward a particular behavior, our perceptions of our ability to perform the behavior, and ________.

E. Our perceptions of whether others will approve or disapprove of the behavior

Selective avoidance is ___.

E. Our tendency to direct our attention away from information that challenges our attitudes