chapter 5

subliminal conditioning

classical conditioning that occurs through exposure to stimuli that are below individuals' thresholds of conscious awareness --mere exposure can also work with subliminal presentations (sometimes even more effectively than at a conscious level)

factors in attitude formation

mere exposure, classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning, modeling, social comparison

elaboration likelihood model

(ELM) There are two routes to persuasion: the central route and the peripheral route

peripheral route

(heuristic processing) persuasive messages that stimulate heuristic processing (use of simple rule of thumb or mental shortcuts)

observational learning

(modeling) learning through the observation of others' behavior

central route

(systematic processing) persuasive messages that stimulate systematic processing (careful consideration of message content and ideas)

the yale approach to the study of persuasion

(who says what to whom and how?) traditional communications theory (communicator, message, audience)

the three direct ways that reduce cognitive dissonance

-by changing the attitudes or behavior to make them consistent -by getting new information that makes us think the inconsistency is not real -by trivialization: deciding that the inconsistency isn't important because neither the attitudes nor the behavior are important

factors affecting the attitude-behavior link (situational controls, attitude strength)

-if you believe that sharing your attitude will lead to disapproval, you will tend to give a false message about your attitude -attitudes that you feel very strongly are more likely to affect your behavior

causes of attitude strength

-vested interest -certainty ---clarity=being clear about one's attitude (vs. ambivalent) ---correctness= feeling one's attitude is the valid or proper one to hold -personal experience

classical conditioning

a basic form of learning in which one stimulus, initially neutral, acquires the capacity to evoke reactions through repeated pairing with another stimulus. (one stimulus becomes a signal for the presentation or occurrence of the other)

attitude-to-behavior process model

a model of how attitudes guide behavior that emphasizes the influence of attitudes and stored knowledge of what is appropriate in a given situation on an individual's definition of the present situation. (influences overt behavior)

conditioned stimulus (classical conditioning)

a stimulus that comes to stand for or signal an unconditioned stimulus

unconditioned stimulus (classical conditioning)

a stimulus that evokes a positive or negative response without substantial learning (pos/neg stimulus that the conditioned stimulus possesses)

theory of planned behavior

an extension of the theory of reasoned action, suggesting that in addition to attitudes toward a given behavior and subjective norms about it, individuals also consider their ability to perform the behavior

cognitive dissonance

an internal state that results when individuals notice inconsistency between two or more attitudes or between their attitudes and their behavior

mere exposure effect

by having seen before, but not necessarily remembering having done so, attitudes toward an object can be formed

explicit attitudes

consciously accessible attitudes that are controllable and easy to report (usually measured using surveys)

persuasion

efforts to change others' attitudes through the use of various kinds of messages

Attitude

evaluation of various aspects of the social world *can have -Affective (emotional) component -Behavioral component -Cognitive component

forewarning

forewarned is forearmed- if you care enough to counter argue (enables better counterarguments because you get to prepare them in advance)

reference group

groups of people with whom we identify and whose opinions we value

selective avoidance

listener directs his or her attention away from material that challenges his or her beliefs

less-leads-to-more effect

offering individuals small rewards for engaging in dissonance- arousing behavior often produces more dissonance than offering larger rewards (and so results in more attitude change) ex. small rewards for large behaviors can be enough to motivate them to change behaviors/ attitudes (*large reward won't change your attitude, getting $500 but it won't change your attitude)

hypocrisy

publicly advocating some attitudes or behavior and then acting in a way that is inconsistent with these attitudes or behaviors

instrumental (operant) conditioning

responses that are reinforced are strengthened. responses that are punished are less likely to occur

illusion of truth effect

the mere repetition of information creates a sense of familiarity and more positive attitudes

social comparison

the process of validating social reality by comparing our perception with others' perceptions. We form attitudes when others we respect give us their opinion

social learning

the process through which we acquire new information, forms of behavior, or attitudes from other people

implicit attitudes

unconscious associations between objects and evaluative responses (usually measured using IAT)

pluralistic ignorance

when we collectively misunderstand what attitudes others hold and believe erroneously that others have attitudes different from ours

reactance

when your freedom of action is threatened, you take action to protect that freedom. Prevents persuasion when we feel the other is trying to persuade us to DO something