Psy15 Chapter 8: Persuasion and Attitudes

Question 1

utilitarian function

Answer 1

An attitudinal function that serves to alert people to rewarding objects and situations they should approach and costly or punishing objects or situations they should avoid

Question 2

ego-defense function

Answer 2

An attitudinal function that enables people to maintain cherished beliefs about themselves and their world by protecting them from contradictory information

Question 3

value-expressive function

Answer 3

An attitudinal function whereby attitudes help people express their most cherished values - usually in groups in which these values can be supported and reinforced

Question 4

reference groups

Answer 4

Groups whose opinions matter to a person and that affect the person’s opinions and beliefs

Question 5

knowledge function

Answer 5

An attitudinal function whereby attitudes help organize people’s understanding of the world, guiding how they attend to, store, and retrieve information

Question 6

heuristic-systematic model

Answer 6

A model of persuasion that maintains that there are two different routes of persuasion: the systematic route and the heuristic route

Question 7

elaboration likelihood model (ELM)

Answer 7

A model of persuasion that maintains that there are two different routes of persuasion: the central route and the peripheral route

Question 8

central (systematic) route

Answer 8

A persuasive route wherein people think carefully and deliberately about the content of a message, attending to its logic, cogency, and arguments as well as to related evidence and principles

Question 9

peripheral (heuristic) route

Answer 9

A persuasive route wherein people attend relatively simple, superficial cues related to the message, such as the length of the message or the expertise or attractiveness of the communicator

Question 10

source characteristics

Answer 10

Characteristics of the person who delivers the message, including the person’s attractiveness, credibility, and expertise

Question 11

sleeper effect

Answer 11

An effect that occurs when messages from unreliable sources initially exert little influence but later cause individuals’ attitudes to shift

Question 12

message characteristics

Answer 12

Aspects of the message itself, including the quality of the evidence and the explicitness of its conclusions

Question 13

identifiable victim effect

Answer 13

The tendency to be more moved by the plight of a single, vivid individual than by a more abstract number of individuals

Question 14

receiver characteristics

Answer 14

Characteristics of the person who receives the message, including age, mood, personality, and motivation to attend to the message

Question 15

third-person effect

Answer 15

The assumption by most people that “other people” are more prone to being influenced by persuasive messages (such as those in media campaigns) than they themselves are

Question 16

agenda control

Answer 16

Efforts of the media to select certain events and topics to emphasize, thereby shaping which issues and events people think are important

Question 17

thought polarization hypothesis

Answer 17

The hypothesis that more extended thought about a particular issue tends to produce more extreme, entrenched attitudes

Question 18

attitude inoculation

Answer 18

Small attacks on people’s beliefs that engage their attitudes, prior commitments, and knowledge structures, enabling them to counteract a subsequent larger attack and be resistant to persuasion