Attitudes and Attitude Change

Question 1

what is the task we did in class that showed the IAT

Answer 1

had to smack hand on desk to sort items (pieces of cake, positive and negative words)
good & bad - chocolate & vanilla - good, choco & bad, vanilla
-vanilla & chocolate - good vanilla & bad chocolate

easier to sort two categories at once (make physical response) when positive/negative words match with what you really feel (I like chocolate so easier to sort when on the same side as good)

Question 2

what is the effect of order on how fast you sort things

Answer 2

there is an effect but it is extremely small

Question 3

what is attitude

Answer 3

positive or negative evaluation of an object, person or idea

Question 4

what is an explicit attitude

Answer 4

evaluations we consciously endorse and can easily report

ex. I like chocolate cake

Question 5

what are implicit associations

Answer 5

evaluations that are involuntary, uncontrollable and at times unconscious
-attitude implies conscious endorsement whereas associations are connections in memory

Question 6

what happens the majority of times with explicit attitudes and implicit associations

Answer 6

they match

ex. sorting chocolate to good (shows implicit association) which matches the explicit attitudes of thinking chocolate is good

Question 7

what are some differences between explicit attitudes and implicit associations

Answer 7

• explicit attitudes are easy to change
• implicit associations can be outside of consciousness, they are positive or negative associations in memory with the attitude object

also how we measure them is different

Question 8

what does it mean by “explicit attitudes are easy to change”

Answer 8

when you come in contact with new ideas/arguments (against how you really change), you can easily change your attitudes

“I believed this because my parents thought it, but I disagree now”

Question 9

what does it mean by “implicit associations can be outside of consciousness, they are positive or negative associations with the attitude object”

Answer 9

Brown’s husband loved Scotland, grandparents are from there (he had never been there himself), positive associations about Scotland

what is in your mind is what you live, people can form implicit associations about something you’ve never experienced depending on what you have been exposed to
-feeling a way because your parents feel that way

Question 10

how are implicit associations developed

Answer 10

slowly overtime, through repeated experiences and associations

ex. enjoying the taste of chocolate cake overtime

Question 11

how do we measure explicit attitudes

Answer 11

we measure them through people self reporting
-conscious, people know they have these attitudes

ex. how much do you like the governor? (scale 1-7)

does depend on if they want to respond or not

Question 12

how do we measure implicit attitudes

Answer 12

we measure them by using measures like reaction time (reason latency)

• how fast you answer
  ex. Implicit Association Test (IAT) but there are many reaction time measures

Question 13

what are the three weaknesses of IAT

Answer 13

1) relative measure
2) conscious of own reaction while doing it
3) if you know about it, you can try to affect own speed

Question 14

what does relative measure of IAT mean

Answer 14

how you feel towards A, relative to B

ex. Brown’s husband is from NJ and he hates NY teams because of exposure to these arguments, he is a huge Devils fan and hates the Rangers, if its Rangers vs. Flyers (he is neutral to Flyers) the results on the IAT don’t show if he actually likes the Flyers or if he just hates the Rangers

Question 15

what does conscious of own reaction while doing IAT mean

Answer 15

• feel self going faster or making mistakes while doing it
  ex. person does IAT and feels they have a bias, will behave differently to those of different race after
• make people aware of their bias

Question 16

what does if you know about it, you can try to affect your own speed mean about the IAT

Answer 16

• want to make it look like you don’t have a bias, so you can purposefully answer slower
  ex. Brown did IAT with young and old people bias in front of class with an old professor, so she made errors intentionally to show that she did not have a bias against old people

Question 17

what is the Affect Misattribution Paradigm and how does it correct for the errors of the IAT

Answer 17

-participants see something they do not have pre-existing beliefs about
-use Chinese characters for English people and ask for positive or negative meaning/sorting (makes them focus on the thing people neutral) but…
BEFORE the neutral thing an image flashed before (so that the participants can’t see it like a prime)

Question 18

what was the thesis example of Affect Misattribution Paradigm

Answer 18

student measured young/old person bias

• flashed quick images of young or old person (which would influence affect) before neutral image then asked to rate neutral image
• misattribution of how they feel about the prime to the neutral stimulus

not consciously aware of own reaction

Question 19

what happens if you do not have a strong feeling about something in Affect Misattribution Paradigm

Answer 19

if you do not have a strong feeling about something you can alter the prime to shift ones feelings about it
ex. show angry old people vs show happy old people

if you do have strong feelings about something then associations/attitudes do not change

Question 20

although implicit associations and explicit attitudes usually converge, when can they diverge?

Answer 20

1) motivational bias to report different explicit attitude
2) lack of introspective access to implicit associations
3) explicit attitude has recently changed

Question 21

what is an example of motivational bias to report different explicit attitude

Answer 21

dont want to report that they have a negative (or in some cases positive) explicit attitude about something, not reporting honestly

Question 22

what is lack of introspective access to implicit associations

Answer 22

if implicit associations are built from exposure and you do not have that memory of exposure, you might not realize that it is there

ex. women = humanities, men = science, person is genuinely surprised they had this association there on IAT because they feel so strongly opposite, this would come from previous exposure (memory you are not consciously aware of)

Question 23

explain explicit attitude has recently changed

Answer 23

it will take awhile for implicit associations to change to match new explicit attitude, implicit association develops slowly over time

ex. Brown went vegetarian and had an initial positive implicit association about the smell of meat (body wants to eat it), this changed over years and she now gets queasy over meat smell

Question 24

when is convergence between implicit associations and explicit attitudes greater

Answer 24

1) explicit attitude is reported spontaneously (little deliberation)
- no time to report different explicit attitudes for motivational reasons
2) both implicit associations and explicit attitudes are extreme

Question 25

3 main ways explicit attitudes are formed

Answer 25

1) cognitively based attitudes
2) affectively based attitudes
3) behaviorally based attitudes

Question 26

what are cognitively based attitudes that influence how explicit attitudes are formed

Answer 26

come from reasoning

ex. read about an issue, arguments on both sides and arrive at conclusion

Question 27

what are the affectively based attitudes that influence how explicit attitudes are formed

Answer 27

• attitudes linked to positive reactions
• mere exposure and familiarity
• conditioning (classical, operant, evaluative)

Question 28

what is the difference between mere exposure and familiarty

Answer 28

mere exposure is when you encounter something once it can affect your attitude
familiarity is we like the things we are familiar with
ex. laundry detergent, people say they like Tide the best even if they do not know what detergent they use because it is the most familiar

Question 29

what is the study that shows mere exposure effects can influence explicit based attitudes

Answer 29

• show participants something they should be neutral about (chinese characters), just shown once and look at them
• then ask participants to rank how much they like other characters
  results: participants like the character they have seen before more (this is true even if it is subliminal and they dont remember they have seen it)

mere exposure does not have to be conscious

Question 30

why does mere exposure influence explicit attitudes (potential reasons)

Answer 30

1) if you have seen something once and it does not harm you, you like it more
2) seen once, perceptually easier to process

Question 31

what is conditioning (the three types) and how have they been shown to influence explicit attitudes

Answer 31

1) classical- learning process, two things are paired together and you eventually do the natural response to one of the things to the first thing by itself
2) operant- reinforced or punished for attitudes can lead to adopting attitudes
3) evaluative- pair two things (one has positive valence already)

ex. Bulbasor (neutral) and picture of people laughing (positive), you can reflect the positive feelings onto neutral stimulus
ex. teeth with maggots (negative) and a pokemon who is unknown - you pass the negative feeling onto the pokemon

real study- participants see pokemon they have never seen before paired with a positive or negative image and they rate the pokemon based on the paired images

Question 32

how can behaviorally based attitudes influence explicit attitudes

Answer 32

self perception

Question 33

what is self perception and how can it influence explicit attitudes

Answer 33

• understand something about selves by looking at behavior (valid in this setting but not in others)
• if you have no attitude or weak attitude, looking at behavior can give you insight to attitude

ex. ask daughter what favorite color is, says “most of my clothes are pink so i must like pink”, had no attitude so it was influence by behavior

Question 34

what is the study example with board games that shows self perception and how can it influence explicit attitudes

Answer 34

ex. study
primed participants to think about money and then asked to pick between two games “American Politics” or “American Governments”
-game boxes had images of bills or famous monuments
-participants picked game with money image when they were primed
-also said they liked the game more that they picked, said “I am more interested in American Politics”

We know how they behaved was a result of priming, but not conscious choice

Question 35

how are implicit associations formed

Answer 35

affectively based

Question 36

how are affectively based implicit associations formed

Answer 36

• can develop through conditioning etc.
• can develop from affect resulting from explicit attitudes (what we consciously feel)

if you want implicit association to change, change what you are exposed to

Question 37

what are the three components of attitude

Answer 37

cognitively based, affectively based, behaviorally based

Question 38

what are cognitively based attitudes

Answer 38

attitude based on beliefs about the properties of an attitude object

Question 39

what are affectively based attitudes

Answer 39

attitude based on feelings and values about the nature of an attitude object

Question 40

what can affect affectively based attitudes

Answer 40

classical and operant conditioning

Question 41

what is the difference between cognitively and affectively based attitudes

Answer 41

cognitively: look at logic used of something, how well a product cleans
affectively: look at the emotional based aspects of something, a car is bad with gas but looks sexy

Question 42

what are behaviorally based attitudes

Answer 42

attitude based on observations of how one behaves to object

Question 43

what can affect/cause behaviorally based attitudes

Answer 43

self perception theory: under certain circumstances (weak attitude and no other explanations available) people do not know how they feel until they behave

Question 44

difference between explicit and implicit attitudes

Answer 44

explicit are attitudes we consciously endorse, implicit are attitudes that exist out of conscious awareness

Question 45

what happens when implicit associations and explicit attitudes match

Answer 45

we expect behavior to be consistent and the same

Question 46

what is the usual belief about what happens when implicit associations and explicit attitudes are not the same

Answer 46

we believe that attitudes influence behavior

Question 47

what is the difference between implicit and explicit behaviors

Answer 47

explicit: intentional behaviors (association between two two, behaviors we can control)
ex. what we say in social interactions

implicit: automatic behaviors (we do not think consciously about)
ex. how you say something, the way you say something can communicate feelings, fidgety, eye contact, etc

Question 48

what is the study that shows explicit attitudes and implicit associations to racial groups, how participants behave to black people

Answer 48

both studies had black and white confederates
group 1: the black person was an experimenter
group 2: the black person was in a general social interaction

measures: both explicit attitudes and implicit associations
study 1) used IAT
study 2) used subliminal primes (black and white face flashed) then showed word and had to categorize it as good or bad (looked at reaction time to words)

results:
participants explicit attitudes to white/black race predicted their verbal friendliness
participants nonverbal behaviors was predicted by their implicit associations (leaning in, expressive faces, fidgeting, etc.)
if a person has diverging attitudes they will give mixed signals

Question 49

what was the follow up of the study that shows explicit attitudes and implicit associations to racial groups, how participants behave to black people

Answer 49

measured how blacks felt after interactions (rate other person’s behavior): how they felt about the interaction was determined by implicit associations (felt more anxious themselves)

Question 50

what does the study that shows explicit attitudes and implicit associations to racial groups, how participants behave to black people show us

Answer 50

both implicit and explicit matter and predict behavior, but it depends on what behavior (verbal/conscious vs. nonverbal/unconscious)

Question 51

explain spontaneous vs. planned behavior and an example

Answer 51

depending on if it is spontaneous or planned behavior, we can use either implicit associations or explicit attitudes to help us predict behavior

ex. study
letting Chinese people sit in a restaurant, on a survey most of the people said they would not let them sit there (planned) but when the experimenter and the family walked in the majority of restaurants allowed it (spontaneous)

Question 52

when do attitudes predict spontaneous behavior

Answer 52

when they are highly accessible

Question 53

what is attitude accessibility

Answer 53

strength of association between attitude object and person’s evaluation of that object, measured by the speed with which people can report how they feel about object

• based on degree of direct experience with that attitude object
• used for predicting spontaneous behavior

Question 54

what is used to predict deliberative behavior

Answer 54

theory of planned behavior

Question 55

what is the theory of planned behavior and the three aspects

Answer 55

people’s intentions are the best predictors of their deliberate behaviors which are determined by:

1) attitudes towards behavior
2) subjective norms
3) perceived behavioral control

Question 56

what are “attitudes towards behavior” in theory of planned behavior and an example

Answer 56

the more specific the attitudes are the better predictors they are of behavior

ex. study
- asked women about birth control attitude and then two years later asked women if they used birth control within the 2 year time frame
- different groups: general questions (attitude on birth control) to more specific questions (attitude on using birth control within the next two years)
* *the more specific the question, the better predictor of behavior**

Question 57

what are “subjective norms” in theory of planned behavior and an example

Answer 57

peoples beliefs about how others they care about will view behavior in question

ex. going to a violin concert even though you hate classical music because your friend is playing in it and will be mad if you do not go

Question 58

what is “perceived behavioral control” in theory of planned behavior and an example

Answer 58

the degree in which people believe they can perform the behavior
ex. difficult to remember to use condom- wont do it, easy to remember to get milk on the way home- will do it

Question 59

what does the aspects of persuasion entail

Answer 59

Yale Attitude Change Approach

Question 60

what is the Yale attitude change approach and the three components

Answer 60

study of conditions in which people are most likely to change attitude in response to persuasive messages

1) source of communication (source characteristics)
2) nature of communication (message characteristics)
3) nature of audience

Question 61

what are source characteristics and their effect on persuasion

Answer 61

credible speakers and attractive speakers increase the likelihood of persuasion

sleeper effect: the information becomes more persuasive overtime even without a credible/attractive speaker

Question 62

what are message characteristics and their effect on persuasion

Answer 62

persuasion is increased when messages seem as though they are not designed to persuade
increase in persuasion with presentation of a two sided argument
primacy effect: increase in persuasion on what you hear first

Question 63

what are the nature of audience characteristics and their effect on persuasion

Answer 63

distracted audience = higher persuasion
lower intelligence = higher persuasion
age 18-25 = higher persuasion

Question 64

when is it best to stress strength of argument (central) vs credibility and attractiveness of speaker (peripheral) to achieve attitude change?

Answer 64

depends on the elaboration likelihood model

Question 65

what is the elaboration likelihood model

Answer 65

a model explaining two ways in which persuasive communications can cause attitude change: centrally, when people are motivated and have the ability to pay attention to arguments in the communication, and peripherally, when people do not pay attention to the arguments but are instead swayed by surface characterstics

Question 66

so what are the two components of elaboration likelihood model

Answer 66

central route to persuasion

peripheral route to persuasion

Question 67

what is the central route to persuasion

Answer 67

the case in which people have both the ability and the motivation to elaborate on a persuasive communication, listening carefully to and thinking about the arguments presented (motivation and ability to pay attention to arguments)

Question 68

what is the peripheral route to persuasion

Answer 68

the case in which people do not elaborate on the arguments in a persuasive communication but are instead swayed by more superficial cues

Question 69

explain motivation in the central route to persuasion and an example

Answer 69

the more relevant the issue is, the more likely people will use the central route to persuasion

ex. study
attitude on college seniors passing comprehensive exam before graduation
2 (personally relevant x 10 years away) x 2 ( good vs bad arguments) x 2 (professor vs high school student speaking)

results: high relevance: people were more influenced by strong arguments
low relevance: people are more influenced by the credibility of the speaker

When an issue is personally relevant people pay attention to the arguments in speech and are persuaded by the arguments, and when not relevant people rely on mental shortcuts (peripheral route)

Question 70

explain attention in the central route to persuasion and an example

Answer 70

when people are unable to pay attention to arguments they are more swayed by peripheral cues

ex. study
mock jury and one witness was a biologist who said that the plaintiff had become ill from a work substance, jury had to make a verdict
2( lots of articles published and prestigious university vs. few articles published and not a prestigious university) x 2( simple testimony vs. jargon testimony)

results: in simple- participants focused on argument strengths (central)
in jargon- participants relied on credentials of speaker (peripheral)

Question 71

what is the longer lasting route to persuasion

Answer 71

central`

Question 72

what is fear arousing communication

Answer 72

persuasive message that attempts to change people’s attitudes by arousing their fears

Question 73

what does fear arousing communication depend on

Answer 73

depends on fear influencing ability to pay attention and process arguments in message
-if people believe listening to message with reduce fear they will have more motivation to analyze the message carefully

Question 74

what is a study that shows how fear arousing communication depends on fear influencing ability to pay attention and process arguments in message

Answer 74

three groups:
scary smoking video
video and instructions on how to quit
instructions on how to quit

results: video and information group smoked less because watching the film scared them and the pamphlet showed them there was a way to reduce fear

Question 75

when can fear be a bad thing

Answer 75

too much fear, it prevents people from thinking rationally about the issue

Question 76

how should advertisements try to change affectively based attitudes and cognitively based attitudes

Answer 76

affectively: use peripheral route (emotion)
cognitively: use central route (logic)

Question 77

what are subliminal messages

Answer 77

words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but may nevertheless influence judgements, attitudes and behaviors

Question 78

how can you resist persuasion

Answer 78

attitude inoculation and reactance theory

Question 79

what is attitude inoculation

Answer 79

making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by initially exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their position

Question 80

when are attitudes susceptible to attacks by logical appeals

Answer 80

when the attitude is formed using peripheral route

Question 81

example that shows attitude inoculation

Answer 81

group given brief arguments against cultural truisms (beliefs people in group accept uncritically) vs. control group
-read stronger attack on truisms (ex. brushing teeth every day) 2 days later

results: those inoculated were less likely to change attitude- they had time to think about why the arguments against were false & could contradict the arguments given to them two days later

Question 82

what is reactance theory

Answer 82

the idea that when people feel their freedom to perform a certain behavior is threatened, an unpleasant state of resistance is aroused, which the can reduce by performing the prohibited behavior

Question 83

what is a study that shows reactance theory

Answer 83

researchers trying to get less graffiti written on walls
group 1: “Do not write on walls under any circumstances”
group 2: “Please do not write on walls”

results: less graffiti in second condition

Question 84

what are compliance techniques

Answer 84

getting someone to do something you want them to (not forcing them)

Question 85

what did Robert Cialdini measure

Answer 85

what it takes to get people to do something, measured this in car dealerships, his research led us to the development of 4 compliance techniques

Question 86

what are the 4 compliance techniques

Answer 86

norm of reciprocity 
Foot-in-the-door technique
Door-in-the-face technique
That’s-not-all approach
Low-ball technique

Question 87

what are the three principles of compliance

Answer 87

1) reciprocity: do something for someone else to get them to do something for you (more likely to help those who have helped us, and we expect a person we helped to help us)
2) consistency: once we agree to do something, if we say no or stop donating, this causes inconsistency
3) commitment: once we say yes or do something (commitment) it is hard to go back

Question 88

what is an example of the Norm of Reciprocity

Answer 88

Brown received address stickers from companies asking for donations in return, feel indebted, feel like you have to give something back

Question 89

what is the foot in the door technique and example

Answer 89

the influencer secures compliance to a small request and then later follows this with a larger request (the target request)
-small request was a lead up to what they actually want

ex.
door to door salesmen used to try and get inside of the house because when that happens sales go up
asked to sign petition and then asked to clean up park, more likely to say yes to cleaning if you already signed petition

Question 90

what is a study that shows foot in the door technique and example

Answer 90

• group exposed to foot in the door technique: asked to agree to something small “please drive safe” sticker in window (everyone agreed in study), control group exposed to nothing
• researchers come back in a week and ask to put put “drive safely” sign in yard (10 feet)

results:

tactic: 75% said yes (if group said no to sign it would make them inconsistent)
control: 17% said yes

Question 91

what is the door in the face technique

Answer 91

after having a large request refused, the influencer counteroffers with a much smaller request (the target)

Question 92

what is a study that shows door in the face technique

Answer 92

college students on campus

control: went right to target, would you chaperone juveniles to the zoo trip for 2 hours?
- 17% said yes
tactic: would you be willing to work 2 hours a week for next 2 years at the juvenile detention center
- 0% said yes, but then same group was asked about the zoo trip and 50% said yes

Question 93

what principle is involved in the study that shows door in the face technique

Answer 93

the reciprocity principle is involved: sense that people made a concession, really wanted the first thing but asked for less, so people think that if they asked for less than they wanted they feel like they have to say yes to their second question/favor

Question 94

what is Browns example of door in the face technique gone wrong

Answer 94

political donations: can you donate 300 to campaign? no, the caller should have went to $25 but they did not so it was a bad execution of the tactic, they instead went to 200 then to 150 then to 100 so Brown got irritated

Question 95

real life example of door in the face technique

Answer 95

ask someone to do 1.5 hour study, then ask a follow up for a 15 minute study

Question 96

what is the thats not all approach and an example

Answer 96

influencer makes a large request, then immediately offers a discount or bonus before the initial request is refused

ex. would you buy the blender for $40?, but wait that is not all! you also get free spoons, measuring cups etc.

Question 97

study that shows thats not all approach

Answer 97

bake sale on college campus

control: 2 cookies and cupcake are 75 cents (40% said yes)
tactic: cupcake is 75 cents, but i will throw in two cookies for free (73% said yes)

monetary amounts are the same, but how they are framed is different

Question 98

what is the low ball technique

Answer 98

the influencer secures an agreement with a request and then raises price/ante
-happens with cars and houses

Question 99

study that shows low ball technique

Answer 99

participants asked to do study on thinking processes

tactic: asked (after said yes), the study is at 7am?
control: said the whole thing at once including it is at 7am

results:

control: 24% said yes
tactic: 56% said yes

all details were disclosed at once vs at different times = different outcomes

Question 100

what is the principle in low ball technique

Answer 100

commitment

Question 101

what was the effort justification tactic that was attempted on Browns husband

Answer 101

went to buy a car and had to sign a ton of papers to try and get him to buy something (justify his effort), but he is a social psychologist and realized this so he left

Question 102

what are the two types of advertisements

Answer 102

1) give factual information as to why you should do something (central)
2) appeal to funny, attractive and other stimuli (peripheral)

Question 103

explain two different routes in advertising

Answer 103

central: use information and arguments and facts t provide people with information to think about, because of this you are persuaded

• *we are cognitive misers so do not want to think carefully, which leads to
  peripheral: funny and attractive appeals, credible appeals (expertise and trustworthiness)
  ex. Kristen Bell doing a car commercial

Question 104

can ads have both cues? and what is the consequence of a “too emotional” ad

Answer 104

ads can have both cues or one or the other, if an ad is too emotional people will remember the ad and not the product