Quiz 4

What is attitude?

One of the aspects of persuasion: A relatively enduring predisposition to respond favorably or unfavorably toward something

What is selective exposure?

People choose to believe/select/expose themselves to information that is consistent with their beliefs and attitudes Motivated selection of messages matching one's beliefs

What is news knowledge as inoculation?

People who understand how the news and news media circulation worked were less likely to fall for persuasion tactics and fake information

What does selective exposure help us understand?

What messages we select Why we select them What the consequences are

What is an Echo Chamber?

When one experiences a biased, tailored media experience that eliminates opposing viewpoints and differing voices. This is fed off of confirmation bias, which describes the way people perceive and take in information by filtering it through our pre-existing beliefs and opinions. Vulnerability to echo chambers may be greatest offline

The online game students were assigned to play last week - Go Viral! - along with games such as Cranky Uncle, Harmony Square, and Bad News build resilience against misinformation and strengthen players' critical thinking. It achieves this through leveraging which of the following? a. Inoculation Theory b. Persuasion knowledge c. Central Route Processing d. Elaboration Likelihood Model e. Cognitive Dissonance Theory

a. Inoculation Theory

To reduce cognitive dissonance, or the uncomfortable feeling when confronted with ideas that contradict our current attitudes/beliefs, people engage in... a. selective exposure b. consonance c. persuasion d. inoculation e. elaboration

a. selective exposure

What are the theories of selective perception?

- Selective exposure - Selective attention - Selective avoidance

Inoculation message forewarning and refutations vaccine example:

- Anti-vaccine attacks - A credible source (Dr. Fauci) warns about anti-vaccine attacks and misinformation Existing Position - "Vaccines are important for protecting people against preventable diseases" Forthcoming Attack - "The Covid-19 vaccines can't be safe because they were developed so quickly" Refutations - US vaccine development is a rigorous process - There are layers of safety and of safety and efficacy reviews before approval for widespread use is granted - The COVID-19 vaccines were developed with the same rigor as all vaccines in the US are developed

What is consensus heuristics = social proof?

- Approving reactions of others enhances message effectiveness

Fostering Resistance to Credit Card Marketing - Example

- Attitudes toward debt among college students - Promote responsible consumer behaviors: o Paying down debt o Postponing acquisition of credit cards - Bring up the arguments credit card companies use in marketing strategies and provide refutations of those arguments - Simulated credit card ad - inoculation message oStudents who were exposed to inoculation message prior to ad were less likely to fall into the trap

What are individual characteristics that moderate selective exposure?

- Certainty of attitudes - Strength of attitudes - Political knowledge

Why does selective exposure occur?

- Cognitive dissonance - Motivated reasoning 1. Accuracy goals, defensive/directional goals 2. Cognitively easier (easier to follow what you know works) 3. Depending upon moods/emotion (i.e. if you are scared/angry) 4. Information quality judgments

What is a predisposition to message (pro/counter-attitudinal)?

- Consistency leads to favorable thoughts - Inconsistency leads to negative thoughts

What are consequences of selective exposure?

- Echo chambers/filter bubbles - Polarization - Different perceptions of reality - Heightened partisan reactions - Tuning out news altogether - Encourage political participation

What if you want to protect someone from persuasion - example?

- Georgia elections - Warnock - candidate - Mock negative ads (warned about upcoming negative ads from his opponent)

What is high involvement products/issues?

- High elaboration likelihood - Central-route attitude change - Arguments 1. Powerful arguments 2. Strong evidence

What is source credibility?

- Higher credibility sources more persuasive than low credibility sources

What factors affect the magnitude of dissonance?

- Importance - Dissonance ratio - Rationalize

What are situational characteristics that moderate selective exposure?

- Information utility - Number of available choices - Sequential versus simultaneous information presentation - Social context

What is a peripheral-route attitude change?

- Less enduring - Less resistant to counter-persuasion - Less likely to lead to behavior consistent with attitudes

What is low involvement products/issues?

- Low elaboration likelihood (won't think much about it) - Peripheral-route attitude change - Heuristics (simple rules) 1. Source credibility 2. Source liking 3. Consensus heuristic = social proof

What is inoculation theory?

- McGuire, 1964 - Based upon a medical analogy: o Equates biological resistance to persuasion resistance o Just as people can be protected from a virus, so too can they be protected from persuasion - The inoculation message elicits feelings of threat in an individual which motivates counter-arguing that contributes to persuasion resistance

What is a central-route attitude change?

- More enduring - More resistant to counter-persuasion - More likely to lead to behavior consistent with attitudes

What are types of selective exposure?

- News and entertainment - Messages about different issues (sports vs. health) - A certain medium (ex. the internet)

What is quality/strength of argument/message?

- Powerful arguments/good evidence = positive thoughts - Weak arguments/poor evidence = negative thoughts

What is ability in regards to elaboration?

- Prior knowledge - Distractions

What is procedural news knowledge?

- Questionnaires for participants asking news related questions - News experts were more likely to identify sponsored related content (more than news novices)

What is the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)?

- This is a dual process theory describing the change of attitudes. - The ELM was developed by Richard E. Petty and John Cacioppo in 1980. - The model aims to explain different ways of processing stimuli, why they are used, and their outcomes on attitude change. - Explains how we process information - To "elaborate" = issue-relevant thinking

What is motivation in regards to elaboration?

- involvement/relevance - "Need for cognition" (engage/enjoy thinking about - do you care about or like the topic? If you don't, you might not be motivated to think about it)

What is heuristics (simple rules)?

- low elaboration likelihood - when cue is relatively more salient

What are the three motivation process incentives related to learning?

1. Direct motivation 2. Vicarious motivation 3. Self-produced motivation

What are the four requirements of attitude?

1. Enduring 2. Learned 3. Changeable 4. Presumed to influence behavior (attitudes correspond to behavior)

What are the two components required in an inoculation message?

1. Forewarning of a persuasive attempt 2. Refutations (counter arguments)

What are the three relationships between beliefs and behaviors?

1. Irrelevant 2. Consonant 3. Dissonant

What are the three requirements of persuasion?

1. The sender has to have a goal 2. Communication is the means to achieve the goal 3. The receiver of the message must have free will (no coercion)

Successful persuasion in the central route processing depends on what three factors?

1. Thought valence 2. Predisposition to message (pro/counter-attitudinal) 3. Quality/strength of argument/message

What affects elaboration?

Ability and motivation

What is observational learning through modeling?

Attention -> Retention -> Production processes -> Motivation -> Observational learning

Why does the degree of discomfort matter when discussing the Cognitive Dissonance Theory?

Because depending on the degree of discomfort it can either lead you to change your decision/behavior or not

What is the Bobo Doll experiment?

Bobo doll experiment, groundbreaking study on aggression led by psychologist Albert Bandura that demonstrated that children are able to learn through the observation of adult behavior. Children copied adults actions Adults hit and attacked Bobo Dolls while a group of children were watching them. When the children were later put in the room with the Bobo Dolls they did the same thing: hit and attack.

What are the consequences of routes to persuasion?

Central-route and peripheral-route attitude change

Post-inoculation talk = what?

Contagion

What are questions of the Clark Doll Experiment?

Could social cognitive theory (SCT) be applied in this example? How? Could cognitive dissonance theory (CDT) be applied to this example? How?

What is the Cognitive Dissonance Theory?

Festinger 1957 An undesirable feeling that can arise when one has contradictory thoughts/beliefs and behaviors Motivated to reduce this discomfort by restoring the balance between beliefs and behaviors

What is the Go Viral game?

Game about the spread of misinformation

Successful persuasion in the peripheral route processing depends on what factor?

Heuristics (simple rules) 1. Source credibility 2. Source liking 3. Consensus heuristic = social proof

The degree to which we elaborate (think about) on the topic, relates to what?

How our attitudes are changed or reinforced

What is persuasion?

Human communication that is designed to influence others by modifying their beliefs, values or attitudes

What is the Clark Doll experiment?

In the experiment, the Clarks handed black children four dolls. The results of the test showed that the majority of black children preferred the white dolls to the black dolls, the children saying the black dolls were "bad" and that the white dolls looked most like them. Showed effects of segregation

What does high dissonance mean?

Increases the likelihood of attitude change

What moderates selective exposure?

Individual characteristics Situational characteristics

What does moderate dissonance mean?

Leads to selective exposure

What is source liking?

Liked sources are more persuasive than disliked sources

What are practical implications of applying ELM?

Low and high involvement products/issues

What is vicarious motivation?

Motivated by the success of others, an individual you want to emulate

What is the ELM peripheral route?

Persuasion results from a person's association with positive or negative cues in the stimulus or making a simple inference about the merits of the advocated position. The cues received by the individual are generally unrelated to the logical quality of the stimulus. These cues will involve factors such as the credibility or attractiveness of the sources of the message, or the production quality of the message. The likelihood of elaboration will be determined by an individual's motivation and ability to evaluate the argument being presented Ex: man sees a car and thinks about its speed, color, fluffy dice

What is the ELM central route?

Persuasion will likely result from a person's careful and thoughtful consideration of the true merits of the information presented in support of advocacy. Involves a high level of message elaboration in which a great amount of cognition about the arguments are generated by the individual receiving the message. The results of attitude change will be relatively enduring, resistant, and predictive of behavior. Ex: man sees car and thinks about cost, reviews, fuel efficiency

What is social cognitive theory?

Portions of an individual's knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing others within the context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influences

What is thought valence?

Primarily positive thoughts = attitude change Primarily negative thoughts = no attitude change

What is an example of dissonance?

Q-anon members not identifying as members anymore after violence

What is a fake expert?

Referencing credible sources that are not accurate or related to the topic

What is direct motivation?

Reward vs. Punishment

What is an example of peripheral and central route persuasion?

Seniors will need to pass a comprehensive examination as a college graduation requirement - Involvement 1. High: effective immediately 2. Low: effective in 5 years - Argument quality (low/high) - substantive claims - Communicator expertise (low/high) - peripheral cue

What is selective attention?

The act of engagement with the material

The ELM proposes two major routes to persuasion, what are they?

The central route and the peripheral route

What is selective avoidance?

The motivated avoidance of messages discrepant with one's beliefs (ex. avoiding watching a type of TV show bc you find it disturbing)

What is self-produced motivation?

The strongest motivation You follow your own intrinsic motivation, follow what you desire

How do opinion leaders/elites affect selective exposure?

They can accelerate/exacerbate selective exposure Example: Aaron Rodgers He got mad at NFL, media, and "cancel culture" after he got caught in his own lie He said he was "allergic" to the vaccine, practiced with his team, then got COVID and risked his team's health when he was never actually allergic

According to the Elaboration Likelihood Model, one's degree of elaboration on a topic/message is affected by which of the following? a. attitudes and behaviors b. attitudes and beliefs c. ability and motivation d. relevance and involvement e. ability and beliefs

c. ability and motivation

According to inoculation theory, a forewarning message elicits feelings of _____ in an individual which motivates counter-arguing that contributes to persuasion resistance. a. cognition b. elaboration c. threat d. attention e. avoidance

c. threat

As it relates to inoculation theory, which of the following best describes preemptive refutations? a. Remembering information consistent with beliefs and forgetting information that creates dissonance. b. The avoidance of information inconsistent with previously established beliefs/behaviors. c. The motivated selection of messages matching one's beliefs. d. Weakened versions of forthcoming attacks that model arguments which can be used as rebuttals e. Systematic thinking of relevant information.

d. Weakened versions of forthcoming attacks that model arguments which can be used as rebuttals

In the 1940s, psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark designed and conducted a series of experiments known colloquially as "the doll tests" to study the psychological effects of segregation on Black children. Many of the children selected the white doll as good and the Black doll as bad. When asked to select which doll looked like them, the Black children experienced... a. observational modeling b. social learning c. social cognition d. cognitive dissonance e. selective avoidance

d. cognitive dissonance

Persuasion can be defined as... a. adoption of messages consonant with one's beliefs. b. the motivated avoidance of messages discrepant with one's beliefs. c. a desirable feeling that can arise when one has confirmatory thoughts. d. human communication that is designed to influence others by modifying their beliefs, values, or attitudes. e. a relatively enduring predisposition to respond favorably or unfavorably toward something.

d. human communication that is designed to influence others by modifying their beliefs, values, or attitudes.

Observational learning involves which of the following? a. attention b. retention c. reproduction d. motivation e. all of the above

e. all of the above

The Elaboration Likelihood Model ... a. is a theory of persuasion b. is a dual process model c. explains information processing d. predicts how elaboration leads to persuasion e. all of the above

e. all of the above

A relatively enduring predisposition to respond favorably or unfavorably toward something defines which of the following? a. engagement b. attention c. exposure d. persuasion e. attitudes

e. attitudes

Example of post-inoculation contagion

o Ads imitating news articles o Disclosures tend to prompt a negative reaction from people (labeling content as an ad) o Negative stories were shared/re-tweeted by a lot of people (more than the positive stories)

What are examples of fake experts?

o More doctors smoke Camel cigarettes more than any other cigarette brand -Doctors and preference in cigarette brands are not related o Global warming petition project (scientists were questioning global warming) -None of the "scientists" were experts in global warming

Washington Post Super Bowl Ad inoculation example?

o Rare to sponsor a news organization during the Super Bowl o Promoting the importance of news gathering o Inoculation - reminding why news gathering is valuable