Unit 9: Attitudes & Attitudinal Changes

Question 1

Attitudes in psychology

Answer 1

Evaluations or feelings toward people, objects, or ideas based on emotions, beliefs, or actions (negative or positive; relatively permanent)

Question 2

ABC Model of Attitudes

Answer 2

3 components: Affective (emotions), Behavioral (actions), and Cognitive (thoughts) aspects that influence attitude formation and change

Question 3

Forming attitudes

Answer 3

Formed through direct experiences, vicarious experiences, or cognitive processes

Question 4

Psychology processes in forming attitudes

Answer 4

• mere exposure
• affective priming
• operant conditioning
• modeling/social learning
• self-perceptions (Bem, 1972)

Question 5

Mere exposure

Answer 5

Developing a positive attitude to something more due to frequent encounters

Question 6

Affective priming

Answer 6

When an emotional reaction to one stimulus influences the response to a later one (e.g., seeing happy face before = positive attitude to neutral image afterward)

Question 7

Operant conditioning

Answer 7

A type of learning where behavior is influenced by consequences (such as rewards or punishments)

Question 8

Modeling/social learning

Answer 8

Learning through observing and imitating others’ behaviors (often influenced by rewards or punishments)

Question 9

Self-perceptions (Bem, 1972)

Answer 9

The theory that people form attitudes by observing their own behavior and inferring their feelings from it (e.g., noticing frequent helping → an attitude of valuing kindness)

Question 10

Measuring attitudes

Answer 10

Using tools like surveys and tests to assess people’s views or feelings

Question 11

Direct vs. Indirect measurement

Answer 11

• Direct measurement → asking people directly about their attitudes
• Indirect measurement → observing behavior/physiological responses to find attitudes

Question 12

Attitude change

Answer 12

The process of altering someone’s beliefs, feelings, or behaviors toward an object, person, or situation

Question 13

Persuasion/persuasive communication

Answer 13

The process of convincing someone to change their attitude or behavior through communication

Question 14

The Yale Approach

Answer 14

Explains attitude change by focusing on the communicator, the message, and the audience (“Who says what to whom?”)

Question 15

Dual-processing

Answer 15

Two pathways for decision-making:
1. a deliberate, analytical route
2. a fast, automatic one

Question 16

The Elaboration-Likelihood Model

Answer 16

Explains attitude change through two routes:
- the central route (logical analysis)
- the peripheral route (external cues like attractiveness)