Chapter 5: Attitudes Flashcards
5.1 identify the learning processes through which our attitudes are formed. 5.2 examine the link between attitudes and behaviour and the factors that affect their relationship. 5.3 explain the two processes through which attitudes guide behaviour. 5.4 indicate the factors that determine whether persuasion attempts to alter our attitudes Will be effective. 5.5 examine the methods that help people resist skilled attempts to persuade us. 5.6 evaluate the effects of cognitive dissonance on attitude
Define attitude
Evaluation of various aspects of the social world
What is concensus
The extent to which other people react to some stimulus,
or even in the same manner as the person we are considering
What is meant by explicit attitudes
Consciously accessible attitudes that are controllable and easy to report
What are implicit attitudes
Unconscious associations between objects and
evaluative responses
What are implicit association
between group membership and trait
associations or evaluations that the perceiver may be unaware of.
They can be activated automatically based on the group membership of a target.
What is social learning
The process through which we acquire new information, forms of behavior, or attitudes from other people
What is 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. In a sense, one
stimulus becomes a signal for the presentation or occurrence of the
other
What is the conditioned stimulus in classical conditioning
The stimulus that comes to stand for or signal
a prior unconditioned stimulus
What is an unconditioned stimulus in classical conditioning
A stimulus that evokes a positive or negative response without substantial learning
What is subliminal conditioning
Classical conditioning of attitudes by exposure to stimuli that are below individuals’ threshold of conscious
awareness.
What is meant by mere exposure
having seen before, but not necessarily remembering having done so, attitudes toward an object can be formed
State what the illusion of truth effect is
The mere repetition of information creates a
sense of familiarity and more positive attitudes.
What is instrumental conditioning
It is differential rewards and punishments sometimes where the conditioning process is rather subtle with the reward being psychological acceptance
What are our social networks
Composed of individuals with whom we have
interpersonal relationships and interact with on a regular basis.
What’s observational learning
A basic form of learning in which individuals acquire new forms of behavior as a result of observing others.
Define social comparison
The process through which we compare ourselves to others to determine whether our view of social reality is, or
is not, correc
Define pluralistic ignorance
When we collectively misunderstand what
attitudes others hold and believe erroneously that others have different attitudes than us
What’s attitude correctness
Believing one’s attitude is the valid or proper
one to hold.
What’s attitude clarity
When there is no ambivalence in attitude; the person
feels clear about what attitude to hold.
Define attitude similarity
The extent to which two individuals share the
same attitud
What is the theory of reasoned action
A theory suggesting that the decision to
engage in a particular behavior is the result of a rational process in
which behavioral options are considered, consequences or outcomes
of each are evaluated, and a decision is reached to act or not to
act. That decision is then reflected in behavioral intentions, which
strongly influence overt behavior
State what the theory of planned behaviour is
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
What is an implementation plan
A plan for how to implement our intentions to
carry out some action
Define persuasion
Efforts to change others’ attitudes through the use of
various kinds of messages
What are fear appeal
Attempting to change people’s behaviors by use of a
message that induces fear
What is systematic processing
Processing of information in a persuasive
message that involves careful consideration of message content and
ideas.
What is heuristic processing
Processing of information in a persuasive
message that involves the use of simple rules of thumb or mental
shortcuts.
Define reactance
Negative reactions to threats to one’s personal freedom.
Reactance often increases resistance to persuasion and can even
produce negative attitude change or opposite to what was intended
What is forewarning
Advance knowledge that one is about to become the
target of an attempt at persuasion; Forewarning often increases
resistance to the persuasion that follows
What’s meant by selective avoidance
A tendency to direct attention away from information that challenges existing attitudes. Such avoidance increases
resistance to persuasion.
What is selective exposure
Selective in what we make the focus of our attention that helps ensure that many of our attitude remain intact for long periods of time
What’s ego depletion
The lowered capacity to exert subsequent self-control
following earlier efforts to exert self-control. Performance decrements occur when people’s ego strength has been depleted by prior
efforts at self-control.
Define self regulation
Limited capacity to engage our willpower and control our own thinking and emotions
What is cognitive dissonance
An internal state that results when individuals
notice inconsistency between two or more attitudes or between their
attitudes and their behavior
Explain the less leads to more effect
The fact that offering individuals small
rewards for engaging in counterattitudinal behavior often produces
more dissonance, and so more attitude change, than offering them
larger rewards.
What’s trivialization.
Concluding that either the attitude or behaviours in question aren’t important so any inconsistency between them is of no importance.
What is self affirmations
Refers to the tendency to respond to a threat to
one’s self-concept by affirming one’s competence in another area
(different from the threat
Define hypocrisy
Publicly advocating some attitudes or behavior and
thenacting in a way that is inconsistent with these attitudes or
behavior
What is meant by tightness vs looseness
some cultures people are expected
to adhere to many strong social norms (tight cultures), whereas in
other cultures norms are weaker and less strongly enforced (loose
cultures).
