Social Psychology: Chapter 6- Attitudes

A phony lie-detector device that is sometimes used to get respondents to give truthful answers to sensitive questions.

Bogus Pipeline

As personal involvement regarding an issue increases,

a. the quality of the arguments becomes a more important determinant of persuasion.

Self-Report Measures: What TWO 'tests' are used to measure self-report measures?

1) Attitude scale 2) Bogus Pipelines

Central Route Processing: - What are THREE reasons why central route processing may NOT occur?

1) Listener does not care about the topic. 2) Listener is distracted. 3) Listener has trouble understand the message.

Covert Measures: - What are THREE ways to test covert measures?

1) Secretly videotaping students 2) Facial Electromyograph (EMG) 3) Electroencephalograph (EEG)

The feeling of ambivalence can be described as an attitude that is

A) mixed in terms of positive versus negative emotions.

Peripheral Route Processing: - Occurs when a listener is persuaded because he or she notices that a message has many arguments, BUT lacks the ______________ OR ________________ to think about them ___________________.

ABILITY OR MOTIVATION - INDIVIDUALLY.

A multiple-item questionnaire designed to measure a person's attitude toward some object.

Attitude Scale

Theory of Planned Behavior BROKEN DOWN:

Attitude toward a behavior & Subjective norm & Perceived behavior control --> Intention --> Behavior.

Jaycee is extremely judgmental. She has strong opinions about politics, social issues, and moral concerns. Jaycee is high in the

B) need for evaluation.

Covert Measures: - One possibility in this regard is to use __________________ observation such as __________________, __________________, and _____________________.

BEHAVIORAL - facial expressions - tone of voice - body language

Covert Measures: - Electroencephalograph (EEG): Detects, amplifies, and records ____________________; _______________ placed on the surface of your _____________. -->The result: Brain-wave patterns that are normally triggered by inconsistency increased more when a disliked stimulus appeared after a string of positive items or when a liked stimulus was shown after a string of negative items than when either stimulus evoked the same attitude as the items that preceded it.

BRAIN WAVES ELECTRODES SCALP

Attitudes are best understood as

C) varying in strength along both positive and negative dimensions.

Person thinks carefully about a communication AND is influenced by the strength of its arguments.

Central Route Processing.

- A situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors. - This produces a feeling of discomfort leading to an alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance.

Cognitive Dissonance.

A positive, negative, or mixed reaction to a person, object, or idea is called a(n)

D) Attitude.

Which of the following would NOT be considered an attitude?

D) Dalton drives a silver minivan.

Peripheral Route Processing: - For example, a listener may decide to AGREE with a message because the source appears to be an _____________ OR is _______________.

EXPERT OR ATTRACTIVE

The process by which we form an attitude toward a neutral stimulus because of its association with a positive or negative person, place, or thing.

Evaluative Conditioning.

Covert Measures: - Facial Electromyograph (EMG): An electronic instrument that records ____________________ activity associated with emotions and attitudes.

FACIAL MUSCLE

Covert Measures: - Collect ______________, ____________ measures of attitudes that cannot be ____________.

INDIRECT COVERT CONTROLLED

Implicit Measures: What test is used to measure this?

Implicit Association Test (IAT)

Theory of Planned Behavior --> Attitude toward a behavior:

LESS GENERAL ATTITUDES SPECIFIC BEHAVIOR

Central Route Processing: - It can ONLY occur when the receiver has BOTH _________________ AND the ________________ to think about the message and its topic.

MOTIVATION AND ABILITY

Covert Measures: - Secretly videotaping students giving speeches: --> Students signaled their attitudes—WITHOUT even realizing it—by ____________ AND ______________________.

NODDING AND SHAKING THEIR HEADS

Peripheral Route Processing: - Receivers engaged in peripheral processing are MORE _________________ than those doing central processing.

PASSIVE

- Person DOES NOT think carefully about a communication AND is influenced instead by superficial cues.

Peripheral Route Processing.

People immediately discount the arguments made by noncredible communicators, but over time, they dissociate what was said from who said it.

Sleeper Effect --> Discounting Cue Hypothesis MESSAGE SOURCE

People immediately discount the arguments made by noncredible communicators, but over time, they dissociate what was said from who said it. In other words, we tend to remember the _____________ BUT forget the ______________.

Sleeper Effect --> Discounting Cue Hypothesis MESSAGE SOURCE

A delayed increase in the persuasive impact of a noncredible source.

Sleeper Effect.

Theory of Planned Behavior --> Subjective Norm:

THINK WE SHOULD DO.

Subjects developed a more favorable view of the people and things they experienced while they were eating

The Luncheon Technique

You remember the end of the speech the best.

The Recency Affect.

______________________. describe when messages are camouflaged in the background of noise (i.e. music, radio broadcasts, commercial jingles, etc.) and/or images in hopes of embedding certain information in your subconscious thoughts.

The Subliminal Affect.

Peripheral Route Processing: - This route occurs when the listener is ____________ OR _____________ to engage in much thought on the message.

UNABLE OR UNWILLING

Implicit Measures --> IAT: - A covert measure of _____________ attitudes derived from the ___________ at which people respond to pairings of concepts—such as black or white with good or bad.

UNCONSCIOUS SPEED

Theory of Planned Behavior --> Perceived Control:

WITHIN OUR CONTROL LACK CONFIDENCE UNLIKELY INTENTION

Which of the following concerning the use of facial electromyography (EMG) to assess attitudes is true?

a. Facial EMG can detect muscular changes not observable to the naked eye.

Wilkin and others (2010) conducted a study where American and Japanese participants were asked about their favorite musical artists, TV shows, and restaurants, among other preferences. They found that

a. the Japanese participants reported liking their favorites for a shorter time than the Americans did.

Which statement concerning the impact of body movements on persuasion is true?

a. People who nod their heads up and down express greater agreement with a persuasive message than those who shake their heads side to side.

The process by which attitudes are changed is called

a. persuasion.

Shaniqua plans to use a self-report measure in which people indicate their agreement or disagreement with a list of statements using a multi-point scale. She is using

a. a Likert scale.

Attitudes are useful because they

a. let us quickly judge whether something we encounter is good or bad.

Which theory suggests that intentions to perform a behavior are best predicted by attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control?

a. theory of planned behavior

Jon and Kate give consecutive speeches on opposing sides in a debate on solar energy. Audience members are asked to register their view a few weeks later. How might the order of the speeches affect the audience's decision?

a. It should yield a primacy effect.

49. Which condition is not specified in Holland's model of persuasion as necessary for persuasion to occur?

a. Message recipients must elaborate on the message.

An attitude that is brought to mind quickly and easily is said to be

a. accessible.

In a study about political attitudes and opinions during the 2004 presidential election, researchers used brain imaging to examine what happened in the brain when participants listened to positive or negative statements about the candidate of their choice. They found that most affected were those areas of the brain associated with which of the following?

a. emotion

A political candidate is often eager to win the endorsement of celebrities who are popular with hordes of people. The candidate hopes that the association of his or her campaign with a popular figure will result in the masses feeling more favorable toward his or her candidacy due to

a. evaluative conditioning.

The process by which we form an attitude toward a neutral stimulus because of its association with a positive or negative person, place, or thing is called

a. evaluative conditioning.

Measuring attitudes by assessing physiological arousal tends to identify the ____ but not the ____ of the attitude.

a. intensity; direction

According to a 2014 Gallup poll, ____ were rated as being the most honest and having the highest ethical standards.

a. nurses

Implicit attitudes can be difficult to measure because

a. people are not aware of having them.

Which factor has the biggest impact on whether or not there will be a primacy or regency effect in persuasion?

a. time

79. Which statement concerning the use of fear appeals is not supported by research?

b. Fear appeals are generally less effective than messages that do not provoke fear.

Louie runs a clinic that helps individuals to quit smoking, and he would like to use fear to motivate his clients. Which strategy would be most effective?

b. First scare clients by showing them gory lung-cancer operations. Then allow them to come up with their own ways of quitting smoking so that they are more committed.

Dr. Flintstone, president of Quarry College, needs to convince students that the college must double its tuition beginning in five years. He is hiring someone to promote this idea, as well as developing supportive arguments. Would he need to adopt a different strategy if he instead wanted to implement the change in the next academic year?

b. Yes. If the change is to happen next year, the strength of the arguments will matter more than whom he hires to promote the idea.

Research on the attitudes of twins suggests

b. the attitudes of identical twins are more similar than the attitudes of fraternal twins.

When message recipients use central route processing, which of the following will be true?

b. Memorable messages will be more persuasive than forgettable ones.

Ichiro, a member of a campus political group, is surveying how many students plan to vote in the 2018 interim election. According to the theory of planned behavior, which question would be the best predictor of whether or not a particular student would actually vote in the 2018 interim election?

b. What are your attitudes about voting in U.S. interim elections, when the presidency is not being decided?

Professor Shackleford is elated because she has just learned that her paper has been accepted for publication. When a student passes her in the hallway and tells her that he missed the latest exam in order to stay home with his depressed cat, her good mood renders her likely to

b. be less skeptical than usual about the excuse.

Jacqueline, an attitude researcher, is interested in how people feel about alcohol. She would be well-advised to use a

b. bogus pipeline because it is not as susceptible to social desirability effects.

The more products a celebrity endorses, the

b. less trustworthy she becomes in the eyes of consumers.

When used to measure attitudes, physiological measures such as heart rate and perspiration

b. reveal the intensity of an attitude.

Gloria has a negative attitude toward smoking, but she continues to smoke two packs of cigarettes a day. According to the theory of planned behavior, one reason that her attitude and behavior are inconsistent could be that

b. she doesn't believe that she can control her smoking behavior.

Stephen Kraus's (1995) meta-analysis on the relationship between attitudes and behaviors showed that attitudes

b. significantly and substantially predict future behavior.

According to research by Formula and Petty (2002), an attitude can be ____ by a persuasive message or argument ____ it.

b. strengthened; against

Eric does not really know how to answer the essay question about cognitive dissonance on his social psychology exam. He decides to write as many facts as he knows about the topic of attitudes in his exam book, hoping that the professor will not read the exams too closely and will be impressed enough by the length of his essay to give him a good score. Eric is hoping to take advantage of

b. the peripheral route to persuasion.

Sammy and Mark watch a ballgame together. Sammy favors the home team, while Mark is an avid fan of the road team. The star player for Sammy's team makes a great play and starts to celebrate in a rather demonstrative fashion. Sammy gets caught up in the celebration, while Mark is angered because he feels this display is an insult to the players of his team. This demonstrates that

b. we often interpret events and behavior based upon pre-existing attitudes.

Which of the following is NOT used to overcome the limitations of traditional self-report methodology?

b. a Likert scale

A sleeper effect occurs when

b. a persuasive message from a non credible source becomes more persuasive over time.

An attitude is implicit if you

b. are unaware of it.

Because communicator trustworthiness is important, people tend to be readily impressed by speakers who

b. argue against their own interests.

While watching the presidential debate on television, Matilda critically evaluated the arguments made by each candidate and was persuaded to support a particular candidate because of the quality of her arguments. Matilda exhibited

b. central route persuasion.

51. The primary difference between the models of persuasion proposed by Hovland and McGuire and that proposed by Greenwald is that Greenwald's model

b. emphasizes the role of elaboration in producing persuasion.

Social psychologists seek to understand

b. how and why persuasion occurs.

Roger and Mike always seem to disagree on music. When Roger tells Mike that he has heard a new song on the radio that he likes a lot, this experience is likely to lead Mike to

b. like the song less than he would have had he not talked to Roger ahead of time.

Brady and Quinn are trying to develop an ad campaign in which a key element is the trustworthiness of the message's communicator. Toward this end, they may wish to utilize

b. overheard communications.

Sleeper effects can be reduced by reminding people that the source of a persuasive message was not credible. This supports which explanation of sleeper effects?

b. the discounting cue hypothesis

63. Vicki is a lawyer who is trying to decide which of two forensic experts she should hire to provide testimony in a case. There is a large discrepancy in the fees each of the experts demands for their services. If Vicki wants the jurors to perceive her expert as trustworthy—and if she expects the witness's fees to become part of the trial record when he testifies—then she should select

b. the less expensive expert.

If you want to convince a friend to abandon an attitude and start thinking more like you, what would be the best approach?

c. Be cautious in your approach and do not promote an idea that is too different than your friend's current attitude.

Research by Landau and colleagues (2004), in which participants were exposed to subliminal images of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and then asked questions about then-President George W. Bush, leads to the conclusion that

c. fear arousal can influence even attitudes as important as political opinions.

Wells and Petty (1980) videotaped students as they listened to a speech. The results of this study indicated that

c. students signaled their attitudes by nodding or shaking their heads.

The theory of planned behavior posits that behavior is a function of attitudes, subjective norms, behavioral intentions, and the

c. amount of control we perceive to have over our own actions.

Yanquan is a staunch Democrat. He has been arguing with Marcela, who is a staunch Republican. In the course of their discussion, Yanquan is able to withstand the arguments Marcela offers for her position, and he does so in strong and convincing fashion. He realizes afterward that his own counterarguments to Marcela's were pretty solid. Subsequent to this realization, Yanquan's attitude will

c. become more certain.

Source credibility is determined by

c. both competence and trustworthiness.

According to the theory of planned behavior, one reason that a person's behavior might not be consistent with that person's attitudes is that the behavior

c. is determined by norms that are counter to the person's attitudes.

People who want to hold correct attitudes will often engage in central route processing. Doing so means that they

c. may fall prey to overcorrection.

One potential problem with self-report measures is that

c. respondents might not respond truthfully.

The most direct and straightforward way to assess an attitude is through the use of

c. self-report measures.

Which indicator is NOT used to distinguish weak attitudes from strong ones?

c. the amount of perceived behavioral control

Miss Roberto is concerned that Talia and Emily avoid playing with Michael because he is African American. Which strategy would best enable her to assess any unconscious dislike these two students feel toward Michael?

c. Administer an IAT to examine the girls' racial attitudes.

Cacioppo and Petty (1981) recorded facial muscle activity of college students as they listened to a message with which they agreed or disagreed. The results of this study indicated that listening to a(n) ____ message INCREASES activity in the ____.

c. agreeable; cheek muscles

The main factor(s) influencing source likeability is/are

c. both similarity and physical attractiveness.

The covert attitude measure that uses electrodes pasted onto the scalp to record the waves of electrical brain activity is called a(n)

c. electroencephalograph.

50. People who are high in intelligence and/or self-esteem tend to be ____ vulnerable to persuasion when compared to people low in intelligence and/or self-esteem.

c. equally

67. Which source characteristic best explains why a company might recruit a supermodel to endorse its products?

c. likeability

The process by which a person is persuaded by cues in the persuasion context rather than thinking critically about the content of a persuasive message is called

c. the peripheral route to persuasion.

31. Which statement regarding LaPeer's (1934) study of attitudes is false?

d. Over 90 percent of the respondents claimed that they would not offer service to a Chinese patron.

The hypothesis that there is a genetic component to some attitudes would be supported by all BUT which finding?

d. The human genome project has identified specific genes that are responsible for the ability to hold positive or negative attitudes.

Michael believes that one's family is more important than one's career. In order for him to successfully convince his achievement-oriented friend Ronald that he should also possess such a value system, Michael should

d. suggest more of a balance between family and career concerns than is currently true for Ronald.

Which of the following is not an explanation for why people in a positive mood are more susceptible to persuasion?

d. A positive mood makes people more thoughtful, so they are more likely to engage in central processing.

Gino, a salesperson, wants to use techniques that will lead his potential customers to rely on peripheral route persuasion. He should do all of the following except

d. approach prospective buyers who obviously care deeply about his product.

One way to increase the accuracy of self-report measures of attitudes is to

d. convince respondents that any deception can be detected.

Stanley's stock broker calls him and says, "I have a great stock buying opportunity for you, but I need to know right away if you want to make the purchase." Stanley refuses to act so quickly, and says, "sorry but I really need to take time to think about this and decide if it is right for me. I'll get back to you." Stanley is going to use ____ as he decides if he should follow his broker's advice.

d. elaboration

In trying to assess attitudes about particular subjects, public opinion pollsters have become aware that attitude responses seem to be affected by all of the factors below EXCEPT

d. the length of the questionnaire.

Josie listened to a speech on the radio advocating the increased use of automobiles that are not reliant on fossil fuels. One would expect the sleeper effect to be greatest if Josie found out about the background of the speaker ____ the speech and was asked about his views about the issue ____.

d. after; a few weeks later

For which type of attitude would an implicit attitude measure be more predictive than an explicit attitude measure?

d. an attitude toward committing suicide

Persuasive communication is the outcome of three possible factors. Which is not one of those factors?

d. context.

While shopping at the local mall, Ithon is approached by a man who asks her to sign a petition for stricter gun control laws. If Ithon uses the central route to decide whether to sign the petition, then she will be more likely to sign if the man who approaches her

d. presents strong arguments.

Implicit Association Tests (IATs) can detect implicit attitudes by measuring

d. the speed at which participants associate stimuli with a positive or negative word.