CHAPTER 5 PERSUASION

Question 1

persuasion

Answer 1

The process by which a message induces change in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviours.

Question 2

central route to persuasion

Answer 2

Occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favourable thoughts.

Question 3

peripheral route to persuasion

Answer 3

Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness

Question 4

credibility

Answer 4

Believability. A credible communicator is perceived as both expert and trustworthy.

Question 5

sleeper effect

Answer 5

A delayed impact of a message; occurs when we remember the message but forget a reason for discounting it.

Question 6

attractiveness

Answer 6

Having qualities that appeal to an audience. An appealing communicator (often someone similar to the audience) is most persuasive on matters of subjective preference.

Question 7

primacy effect

Answer 7

Other things being equal, information presented first usually has the most influence.

Question 8

recency effect

Answer 8

Information presented last sometimes has the most influence. Recency effects are less common than primacy effects.

Question 9

channel of communication

Answer 9

The way the message is delivered— whether face to face, in writing, on film, or in some other way.

Question 10

two-step flow of communication

Answer 10

The process by which media influence often occurs through opinion leaders, who in turn influence others.

Question 11

need for cognition

Answer 11

The motivation to think and analyze; assessed by agreement with items such as “the notion of thinking abstractly is appealing to me” and disagreement with items such as “I only think as hard as I have to.”

Question 12

cults

Answer 12

Groups typically characterized by (1) the distinctive ritual of their devotion to a god or a person, (2) isolation from the surrounding “evil” culture, and (3) a charismatic leader; also called new religious movements. (A sect, by contrast, is a spinoff from a major religion.)

Question 13

certainty

Answer 13

Refers to the level of subjective confidence or validity that people attach to their attitudes

Question 14

selective exposure

Answer 14

The extent to which people’s attitudes bias the attitude-relevant information they expose themselves to.

Question 15

selective attention

Answer 15

The extent to which people’s attitudes bias the attitude-relevant information they attend to, once exposed.

Question 16

selective memory

Answer 16

The extent to which people’s attitudes bias recall and recognition of attitude-relevant information.

Question 17

reactance

Answer 17

A motive to protect or restore our sense of freedom. Reactance arises when someone threatens our freedom of action.

Question 18

attitude inoculation

Answer 18

Exposing people to weak attacks on their attitudes so that when stronger attacks come, they will have refutations available.