Attitudes and Attitude Change Flashcards
what is the task we did in class that showed the IAT
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)
what is the effect of order on how fast you sort things
there is an effect but it is extremely small
what is attitude
positive or negative evaluation of an object, person or idea
what is an explicit attitude
evaluations we consciously endorse and can easily report
ex. I like chocolate cake
what are implicit associations
evaluations that are involuntary, uncontrollable and at times unconscious
-attitude implies conscious endorsement whereas associations are connections in memory
what happens the majority of times with explicit attitudes and implicit associations
they match
ex. sorting chocolate to good (shows implicit association) which matches the explicit attitudes of thinking chocolate is good
what are some differences between explicit attitudes and implicit associations
- 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
what does it mean by “explicit attitudes are easy to change”
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”
what does it mean by “implicit associations can be outside of consciousness, they are positive or negative associations with the attitude object”
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
how are implicit associations developed
slowly overtime, through repeated experiences and associations
ex. enjoying the taste of chocolate cake overtime
how do we measure explicit attitudes
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
how do we measure implicit attitudes
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
what are the three weaknesses of IAT
1) relative measure
2) conscious of own reaction while doing it
3) if you know about it, you can try to affect own speed
what does relative measure of IAT mean
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
what does conscious of own reaction while doing IAT mean
- 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
what does if you know about it, you can try to affect your own speed mean about the IAT
- 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
what is the Affect Misattribution Paradigm and how does it correct for the errors of the IAT
-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)
what was the thesis example of Affect Misattribution Paradigm
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
what happens if you do not have a strong feeling about something in Affect Misattribution Paradigm
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
although implicit associations and explicit attitudes usually converge, when can they diverge?
1) motivational bias to report different explicit attitude
2) lack of introspective access to implicit associations
3) explicit attitude has recently changed
what is an example of motivational bias to report different explicit attitude
dont want to report that they have a negative (or in some cases positive) explicit attitude about something, not reporting honestly
what is lack of introspective access to implicit associations
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)
explain explicit attitude has recently changed
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
when is convergence between implicit associations and explicit attitudes greater
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
3 main ways explicit attitudes are formed
1) cognitively based attitudes
2) affectively based attitudes
3) behaviorally based attitudes
what are cognitively based attitudes that influence how explicit attitudes are formed
come from reasoning
ex. read about an issue, arguments on both sides and arrive at conclusion
what are the affectively based attitudes that influence how explicit attitudes are formed
- attitudes linked to positive reactions
- mere exposure and familiarity
- conditioning (classical, operant, evaluative)
what is the difference between mere exposure and familiarty
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
what is the study that shows mere exposure effects can influence explicit based attitudes
- 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
why does mere exposure influence explicit attitudes (potential reasons)
1) if you have seen something once and it does not harm you, you like it more
2) seen once, perceptually easier to process
what is conditioning (the three types) and how have they been shown to influence explicit attitudes
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
how can behaviorally based attitudes influence explicit attitudes
self perception
what is self perception and how can it influence explicit attitudes
- 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
what is the study example with board games that shows self perception and how can it influence explicit attitudes
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
how are implicit associations formed
affectively based
how are affectively based implicit associations formed
- 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
what are the three components of attitude
cognitively based, affectively based, behaviorally based
what are cognitively based attitudes
attitude based on beliefs about the properties of an attitude object
what are affectively based attitudes
attitude based on feelings and values about the nature of an attitude object
what can affect affectively based attitudes
classical and operant conditioning
what is the difference between cognitively and affectively based attitudes
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
what are behaviorally based attitudes
attitude based on observations of how one behaves to object
what can affect/cause behaviorally based attitudes
self perception theory: under certain circumstances (weak attitude and no other explanations available) people do not know how they feel until they behave
difference between explicit and implicit attitudes
explicit are attitudes we consciously endorse, implicit are attitudes that exist out of conscious awareness
what happens when implicit associations and explicit attitudes match
we expect behavior to be consistent and the same
what is the usual belief about what happens when implicit associations and explicit attitudes are not the same
we believe that attitudes influence behavior
what is the difference between implicit and explicit behaviors
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
what is the study that shows explicit attitudes and implicit associations to racial groups, how participants behave to black people
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
what was the follow up of the study that shows explicit attitudes and implicit associations to racial groups, how participants behave to black people
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)
what does the study that shows explicit attitudes and implicit associations to racial groups, how participants behave to black people show us
both implicit and explicit matter and predict behavior, but it depends on what behavior (verbal/conscious vs. nonverbal/unconscious)
explain spontaneous vs. planned behavior and an example
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)
when do attitudes predict spontaneous behavior
when they are highly accessible
what is attitude accessibility
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
what is used to predict deliberative behavior
theory of planned behavior
what is the theory of planned behavior and the three aspects
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
what are “attitudes towards behavior” in theory of planned behavior and an example
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**
what are “subjective norms” in theory of planned behavior and an example
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
what is “perceived behavioral control” in theory of planned behavior and an example
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
what does the aspects of persuasion entail
Yale Attitude Change Approach
what is the Yale attitude change approach and the three components
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
what are source characteristics and their effect on persuasion
credible speakers and attractive speakers increase the likelihood of persuasion
sleeper effect: the information becomes more persuasive overtime even without a credible/attractive speaker
what are message characteristics and their effect on persuasion
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
what are the nature of audience characteristics and their effect on persuasion
distracted audience = higher persuasion
lower intelligence = higher persuasion
age 18-25 = higher persuasion
when is it best to stress strength of argument (central) vs credibility and attractiveness of speaker (peripheral) to achieve attitude change?
depends on the elaboration likelihood model
what is the elaboration likelihood model
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
so what are the two components of elaboration likelihood model
central route to persuasion
peripheral route to persuasion
what is the central route to persuasion
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)
what is the peripheral route to persuasion
the case in which people do not elaborate on the arguments in a persuasive communication but are instead swayed by more superficial cues
explain motivation in the central route to persuasion and an example
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)
explain attention in the central route to persuasion and an example
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)
what is the longer lasting route to persuasion
central`
what is fear arousing communication
persuasive message that attempts to change people’s attitudes by arousing their fears
what does fear arousing communication depend on
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
what is a study that shows how fear arousing communication depends on fear influencing ability to pay attention and process arguments in message
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
when can fear be a bad thing
too much fear, it prevents people from thinking rationally about the issue
how should advertisements try to change affectively based attitudes and cognitively based attitudes
affectively: use peripheral route (emotion)
cognitively: use central route (logic)
what are subliminal messages
words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but may nevertheless influence judgements, attitudes and behaviors
how can you resist persuasion
attitude inoculation and reactance theory
what is attitude inoculation
making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by initially exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their position
when are attitudes susceptible to attacks by logical appeals
when the attitude is formed using peripheral route
example that shows attitude inoculation
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
what is reactance theory
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
what is a study that shows reactance theory
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
what are compliance techniques
getting someone to do something you want them to (not forcing them)
what did Robert Cialdini measure
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
what are the 4 compliance techniques
norm of reciprocity Foot-in-the-door technique Door-in-the-face technique That’s-not-all approach Low-ball technique
what are the three principles of compliance
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
what is an example of the Norm of Reciprocity
Brown received address stickers from companies asking for donations in return, feel indebted, feel like you have to give something back
what is the foot in the door technique and example
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
what is a study that shows foot in the door technique and example
- 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
what is the door in the face technique
after having a large request refused, the influencer counteroffers with a much smaller request (the target)
what is a study that shows door in the face technique
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
what principle is involved in the study that shows door in the face technique
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
what is Browns example of door in the face technique gone wrong
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
real life example of door in the face technique
ask someone to do 1.5 hour study, then ask a follow up for a 15 minute study
what is the thats not all approach and an example
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.
study that shows thats not all approach
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
what is the low ball technique
the influencer secures an agreement with a request and then raises price/ante
-happens with cars and houses
study that shows low ball technique
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
what is the principle in low ball technique
commitment
what was the effort justification tactic that was attempted on Browns husband
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
what are the two types of advertisements
1) give factual information as to why you should do something (central)
2) appeal to funny, attractive and other stimuli (peripheral)
explain two different routes in advertising
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
can ads have both cues? and what is the consequence of a “too emotional” ad
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
