All flashcards
Flashcard 1: Which route tends to create more durable attitude change: central or peripheral?
Answer: Central route. Central processing creates stronger, longer-lasting attitude changes.
Flashcard 2: What does the foot-in-the-door technique attempt to increase?
Answer: Compliance by starting with a small request before a larger one. Initial agreement creates consistency pressure for larger requests.
Flashcard 3: What is the key distinction between cognitive dissonance and self-perception theories?
Answer: Dissonance involves discomfort; self-perception involves inference without distress. Dissonance requires arousal; self-perception occurs without emotional tension.
Flashcard 4: Which change reduces dissonance: changing behavior, changing attitude, or adding cognitions?
Answer: Any of the three can reduce dissonance. All three strategies effectively restore cognitive consistency.
Flashcard 5: Which option best describes the sleeper effect in persuasion?
Answer: A message becomes more persuasive over time as the source is forgotten. Message content persists while source credibility fades from memory.
Flashcard 6: Which option best predicts stronger attitude-behavior consistency: high or low self-monitoring?
Answer: Low self-monitoring. Low self-monitors act consistently with internal attitudes across situations.
Flashcard 7: What is the self-perception theory explanation for attitude formation?
Answer: People infer attitudes by observing their own behavior and context. Bem's theory: we deduce our attitudes from our actions like outside observers.
Flashcard 8: What is a value in the context of attitudes and beliefs?
Answer: A stable, enduring principle that guides judgments and behavior. Values serve as fundamental standards for decision-making and actions.
Flashcard 9: What is the difference between explicit and implicit attitudes?
Answer: Explicit: conscious and reportable; implicit: automatic and unconscious. Explicit attitudes are deliberate; implicit are measured indirectly.
Flashcard 10: What does the Implicit Association Test (IAT) measure most directly?
Answer: Strength of automatic associations underlying implicit attitudes. IAT measures reaction time differences to reveal unconscious biases.
Flashcard 11: What is cognitive dissonance, in one sentence?
Answer: Psychological discomfort from holding inconsistent cognitions or behaviors. Dissonance motivates people to restore consistency between thoughts/actions.
Flashcard 12: Identify the theory: behavior changes first, then attitudes shift to match the behavior.
Answer: Cognitive dissonance theory. Festinger's theory explains post-behavior attitude adjustment.
Flashcard 13: What is a belief, and how does it differ from an attitude?
Answer: Belief: cognitive statement held true; attitude: overall evaluation. Beliefs are specific cognitions; attitudes are broader evaluative judgments.
Flashcard 14: What is an attitude in social psychology, including its basic evaluative direction?
Answer: A learned evaluation of an object, person, or idea (positive or negative). Attitudes involve evaluative judgments that can be favorable or unfavorable.
Flashcard 15: What is the mere exposure effect on attitudes?
Answer: Repeated exposure increases liking, even without conscious awareness. Familiarity breeds preference through unconscious processing.
Flashcard 16: What is the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) central route to persuasion?
Answer: Persuasion via careful, effortful processing of argument quality. Central route requires motivation and ability to analyze message content.
Flashcard 17: What is the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) peripheral route to persuasion?
Answer: Persuasion via superficial cues (e.g., attractiveness, authority). Peripheral route relies on heuristics when motivation/ability is low.
Flashcard 18: What does the door-in-the-face technique attempt to increase?
Answer: Compliance by starting with a large request then retreating to a smaller one. Reciprocity norm makes smaller request seem reasonable after rejection.
Flashcard 19: Identify the persuasion factor: credibility, attractiveness, or similarity of the communicator.
Answer: Source characteristics. Who delivers the message affects persuasion effectiveness.
Flashcard 20: What is the lowball technique, and what is its key feature?
Answer: Agree to a deal, then costs increase; commitment promotes compliance. Initial commitment persists even when terms worsen.
Flashcard 21: What is the door-in-the-face technique for attitude or behavior change?
Answer: Large request first, then a smaller request to increase compliance. Rejection of large request makes smaller request seem reasonable.
Flashcard 22: What is the foot-in-the-door technique for attitude or behavior change?
Answer: Small request first, then a larger request to increase compliance. Initial compliance makes people more likely to agree to bigger requests.
Flashcard 23: Identify the attitude change predicted when a person has low external justification for lying.
Answer: Attitude shifts to align with the lie (greater internalization). People reduce dissonance by changing attitudes to match behavior.
Flashcard 24: Which condition most strongly increases cognitive dissonance after a counterattitudinal act?
Answer: Low external justification (insufficient reward or pressure). Without strong justification, people must resolve the inconsistency internally.
Flashcard 25: What is cognitive dissonance in the context of attitudes and behavior?
Answer: Psychological discomfort from inconsistent beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors. Dissonance arises when cognitions clash, creating tension.
Flashcard 26: What does the behavioral component of an attitude specifically refer to?
Answer: Actions or behavioral intentions toward the attitude object. Behavior reflects how attitudes influence our actions.
Flashcard 27: What is the mere exposure effect in attitude formation?
Answer: Repeated exposure increases liking, even without conscious awareness. Familiarity breeds liking through unconscious processing.
Flashcard 28: What is classical conditioning in attitude formation, stated in one sentence?
Answer: Pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus creates a learned attitude. Attitudes form through association with emotional responses.
Flashcard 29: What is the self-perception theory explanation for attitude formation or change?
Answer: People infer attitudes by observing their own behavior and context. "If I did it, I must have liked it" - behavior shapes attitudes.
Flashcard 30: Identify the concept: a person changes beliefs to justify an initiated effort or unpleasant task.
Answer: Effort justification (a form of cognitive dissonance reduction). People value outcomes more when they work hard for them.