Lecture 6: Attitudes and Behaviour

Question 1

What are the limitations of measuring explicit attitudes?

Answer 1

1. social desirability biases

2. implicit attitudes not consciously assessed

Question 2

How are implicit attitudes normally measured?

Answer 2

RT paradigms.

Based on assumption of spreading activation accounts of mental processing.

Question 3

What is evaluative priming?

Answer 3

Speed of response to negative and positive stimuli after priming with attitude object can reveal implicit attitudes.

Question 4

what are the 3 bases of attitudes?

Answer 4

Affective
Behavioural
Cognitive

Question 5

What are the 5 functions of attitudes?

Answer 5

1. knowledge - make sense of world
2. instrumental/utilitarian - help guide behaviour
3. social identity - fit into groups
4. impression management - express one’s values
5. self-esteem - protection

Question 6

What are 2 examples of affective route processing?

Answer 6

1. mere exposure - familiarity breeds liking. exposure increases ease of processing which feels good
2. evaluative conditioning - pairing +/-ive stimulus with neutral target

Question 7

What are 3 examples of behavioural routes of processing?

Answer 7

1. direct behavioural influences
2. self-perception- learn what we like by observing own behaviour
3. cognitive dissonance reduction - maintain consistency between attitude and behaviour

Question 8

what is a cognitive route of processing?

Answer 8

reasoned inference

Question 9

what are the two processing routes for attitude change?

Answer 9

peripheral and central

Question 10

What are the two things that influence route selection for attitude change?

Answer 10

1. motivation - goal, value, self-relevance; accountability; need for cognition
2. capacity - ability; distraction

Question 11

What influences attitude change in the central route?

Answer 11

thinking deeply - argument quality matter

interaction between involvement and argument strength

Question 12

What affects attitude change in the peripheral route?

Answer 12

thinking superficially- heuristics

quantity and familiarity; credibility and attractiveness

Question 13

what is cognitive dissonance?

Answer 13

experienced negative arousal arising from inconsistencies between attitudes and behaviour

Question 14

List 3 experimental paradigms for studying cognitive dissonance.

Answer 14

1. induced compliance paradigm - $1 vs. $20 to lie - external justification or increase perceived enjoyment
2. effort justification - i suffered so I like it - mild vs. high effort for participation in boring discussion
3. post-decisonal difference - free choice between equally valued items, post-hoc weighting of item value

Question 15

when can behaviours shape attitudes?

Answer 15

1. actions inconsistent
2. action perceived as freely chosen
3. experience physiological arousal

Question 16

what is intentional behaviour and what attitudes affect it?

Answer 16

conscious committal: enacted application of behavioural intentions - explicit attitudes indirectly affect

Question 17

what is habitual behaviour and what attitudes affect it?

Answer 17

repeated often; enacted via automatic repetition to environmental cues - attitudes little impact; past behaviour better

Question 18

what is spontaneous behaviour and what attitudes affect it?

Answer 18

no conscious intention, not frequently repeated - implicit attitudes directly impact behaviour

Question 19

List 5 things that increase accessibility, strength and stability?

Answer 19

1. elaboration
2. repeated expression
3. direct experience
4. one-sidedness of informational base
5. confidence

Question 20

what is the TACT principle of compatibility?

Answer 20

attitudes change only when following specified

target, action, context, time