Introduction: persuasion, attitude, attitude measurement
1. (a) What is a paradigm (exemplary) case? Give examples. (b) Explain how the shared features of paradigm cases of a concept can provide clarification of the concept. (c) Explain how the “sharp edges” of a definition can lead to disputes over borderline cases.
2. (a) What are the shared features of exemplary cases of persuasion? (b) Explain how a successful attempt to influence is such a feature. (c) Explain how the persuader's having a goal and intending to influence is such a feature. (d) Explain how some measure of freedom on the persuadee's part is such a feature. (e) Explain how having the effects be achieved through communication is such a feature. (f) Explain how a change in the persuadee's mental state is such a feature. (g) Do paradigm cases of persuasion always involve getting the persuadee to agree with what the persuader actually believes?
3. Explain how features present in full-fledged ways in paradigm cases can, when present in only some diminished fashion, make for borderline cases of a concept.
4. (a) Identify one important mental state often changed in persuasion. (b) What is an attitude? (c) Identify some broad features of attitudes. (d) Are attitude commonly acquired through experience? Are attitudes relatively enduring? Do attitudes influence conduct? (e) Do paradigm cases of persuasion always involve changing attitudes?
5. (a) What are semantic differential evaluative scales? Explain how they work. (b) What are single-item attitude measures? What is the feeling thermometer? Identify a circumstance in which single-item attitude measures are especially useful. Identify and explain a weakness of such measures.
6. (a) Explain how quasi-direct belief-based attitude measures assess attitudes. (b) Identify an advantage (and accompanying disadvantage) of using such attitude measures.
7. (a) Explain how persuasion can be assessed using attitude
measurement techniques. (b) Explain why other assessments (that is, other than
attitude) may be useful or necessary in assessing persuasion. (c) Explain why
assessments of actual (observed) persuasive effects are preferable to judgments
of expected persuasive effects.
Functional approaches
1. Explain the general idea behind functional approaches to attitude.
2. (a) In Katz's classic analysis of attitude function, what four attitude functions are identified? (b) Explain the utilitarian function. What techniques are best adapted to changing attitudes serving a utilitarian function? (c) Explain the ego-defensive function. What techniques are best adapted to changing attitudes serving an ego-defensive function? (d) Explain the value-expressive function. Under what conditions are attitudes serving a value-expressive function likely to be susceptible to change? (e) Explain the knowledge function. What is the primary mechanism of change for attitudes that serve a knowledge function?
3. (a) Is there a consensus about a particular typology of
attitude functions? Is there a broad distinction (amongst functions) that is
common to alternative functional typologies? (b) Explain symbolic functions of
attitude. Explain instrumental functions of attitude.
4. Describe the most common procedure for assessing the
function of a given attitude. What is “free-response” data?
5. According to functional approaches, what is the key to
effective persuasion?
6. (a) What is self-monitoring? Describe (broadly) the
characteristics of high- and low-self-monitors. (b) Describe image-oriented
advertising appeals. Describe product-quality-oriented advertising appeals. (c)
Are high self-monitors generally more persuaded by image-oriented or by
product-quality-oriented appeals? Are low self-monitors generally more
persuaded by image-oriented or by product-quality-oriented appeals? (d) Why are
image-oriented and product-quality-oriented appeals differentially persuasive
for low- and high-self-monitors? (e) Explain how advertisers might tailor
appeals to different media outlets based on these ideas.
Social judgment theory
1. (a) What is the central tenet of social judgment theory?
(b) Upon what is the effect of a persuasive communication said to centrally
depend? (c) What are the two steps involved in attitude change (according to
social judgment theory)?
2. (a) Explain the idea that people have judgments of the
alternative positions available on an issue. (b) How can one obtain such
judgments? (c) Describe the Ordered Alternatives questionnaire. (d) What
instructions are respondents given for completing the Ordered Alternatives
questionnaire?
3. (a) What are the judgmental latitudes? What is the
latitude of acceptance? Rejection? Non-commitment? (b) Explain how, for social
judgment theory, a person’s stand on an issue is represented by more than the
person’s most-acceptable position.
4. (a) What is ego-involvement? (b) Is ego-involvement
issue-specific or a general personality disposition? (c) Is being ego-involved
in a issue the same thing as holding an extreme position on the issue?
5. (a) How is ego-involvement predicted to influence the
structure of the judgmental latitudes? (b) What latitude structure is said to
be characteristic of a person high in ego-involvement? Of a person low in
ego-involvement?
6. (a) What is the “known group” technique/procedure? (b)
How was the known-group procedure used to validate the use of the size of the
latitude of rejection (on the Ordered Alternatives questionnaire) as a measure
of ego-involvement? (c) What is the Own-Categories procedure? (d) Explain how
ego-involvement is thought to influence the number of categories used in the
Own-Categories procedure; explain how ego-involvement is thought to influence
the distribution of statements across categories in the Own-Categories
procedure.
7. (a) What is social judgment theory's rule of thumb
concerning attitude change effects following persuasive communications? (b)
What is “discrepancy”? (c) What is the relationship between discrepancy and
attitude change, according to social judgment theory? (d) Describe how this
analysis suggests different approaches to persuading high- and low-involvement
receivers.
8. (a) What are assimilation and contrast effects (broadly
speaking)? (b) What is a contrast effect? (c) What is an assimilation effect?
(d) What is the rule of thumb concerning when each effect will occur?
9. (a) What is the relationship between ego-involvement and
assimilation and contrast effects? (b) Explain how contrast effects reduce the
effectiveness of persuasive messages; explain how assimilation effects reduce
the effectiveness of persuasive messages. (c) What kinds of messages are
subject to assimilation and contrast effects? (d) How can a persuader minimize
assimilation and contrast effects? (e) Explain how political campaigns can
exploit assimilation effects concerning positions on policy issues.
10. (a) What does it mean to say that two factors (variables) are confounded? Explain how the use of the known-groups procedure confounded extremity and involvement in social judgment research. (b) Explain how social judgment theory's concept of involvement is confused.
11. (a) Identify and describe two worrisome findings
concerning the measures of ego-involvement. (b) What sort of correlation is
expected between two instruments that measure the same property? (c) If the
various measures of involvement all do measure involvement, what correlations
would be expected between them (e.g., between the number of categories in the
Own-Categories procedure and the size of the latitude of rejection on the
Ordered Alternatives questionnaire)? What correlations have been observed? Are
the measures of ego-involvement strongly correlated with each other? (d) Do the
measures of ego-involvement display the expected patterns of association with other
variables? (e) How is ego-involvement expected to be related to assessments of
perceived topic importance or commitment to one’s position? What relationships
are observed? (f) If one rank-orders topics by the average size of the latitude
of rejection, what pattern should be seen (according to social judgment
theory)? What pattern is seen?
Belief-based approaches
1. (a) Explain the general idea of belief-based approaches
to attitude. (b) What is a salient belief? How can one identify a person's
salient beliefs about a given object? Explain how, in a survey context, one
might identify the modal (average) salient beliefs about an object.
2. (a) According to the summative model of attitude, what
are the two determinants of attitude? (b) What is belief strength? Describe
questionnaire items that might be used to assess belief strength. (c) What is
belief evaluation? Describe questionnaire items that might be used to assess
belief evaluation. (d) Explain the summative model's description of how belief
strength and belief evaluation combine to produce attitude; that is, describe
and explain the summative model's formula. Give an example that illustrates the
model's application.
3. (a) Sketch alternative strategies for attitude change
suggested by the summative model. (b) Explain (and give an example of) the
strategy of adding a new salient belief (of appropriate valence) about the
object, the strategies of increasing or decreasing the evaluation of an
existing salient belief, the strategies of increasing or decreasing the strength
of an existing salient belief, and the strategy of changing the relative
salience of existing beliefs. (c) Explain how this model can be useful in
identifying possible foci for persuasive appeals.
4. (a) How supportive is the research evidence concerning
the summative model? That is, what is the general pattern of correlations
between the model's predictions and direct measures of attitude? (b) What is
attribute importance? Does adding attribute importance to the summative model's
formula improve the predictability of attitude? Why not? Identify two possible
reasons.
5. (a) Describe the weighted averaging model. (b) What does
the research evidence indicate about whether the averaging model or the
summative (adding) model is superior? Identify two reasons that there is not
compelling evidence to support one model over the other.
6. (a) Are belief-based models concerned with the content
(as opposed to the evaluation) of beliefs? Do functional approaches explain how
beliefs combine to yield attitudes? (b) Explain the complementary relationship
of functional approaches and belief-based models.
Theories of behavioral intention (theory of reasoned action, theory of planned behavior)
Theory of reasoned action (TRA)
1. (a) According to the theory of reasoned action (TRA), what are the two primary determinants of behavioral intention? (b) What is the attitude toward the behavior (AB)? What is the subjective norm (SN)? (c) Do these components influence intention equally? How are the relative weights of the two components assessed?
2. (a) What are the determinants of AB? What is belief strength (and how is it assessed)? What is belief evaluation (and how is it assessed)? Explain how these combine to yield AB. (b) What are the determinants of SN? What are normative beliefs (and how are they assessed)? What is motivation-to-comply (and how is it assessed)? Explain how these combine to yield SN.
3. What does the research evidence suggest about the predictability of intention from the two TRA components (AB and SN)? What does the research evidence suggest about the predictability of each component from its determinants? What does the research evidence suggest about the predictability of behavior from intention?
4. (a) Explain how the TRA can be useful in identifying foci for persuasive efforts. If persuasion is attempted by changing one of the components, does that component need to be significantly weighted? Explain. (b) Identify alternative means by which AB might be influenced. Explain (and give examples of) changing the strength or evaluation of existing salient beliefs. Explain (and give examples of) reconfiguring the set of salient beliefs (and identify two ways in which such reconfiguration might be accomplished). Explain the difference between attitude-toward-the-behavior and attitude-toward-the-object. (c) Identify alternative means by which SN might be influenced. Explain (and give examples of) changing the normative belief or motivation-to-comply that is associated with an existing salient referent. Explain (and give examples of) reconfiguring the set of salient referents (and identify two ways in which such reconfiguration might be accomplished). (d) Explain the strategy of influencing intention by changing the relative weights of the components. In what sort of circumstance can this strategy succeed in changing intention? What is the usual pattern of association (correlation) between the two components? What does this pattern imply about changing the weights as a means of influencing intention?
5. (a) Identify three factors influencing the strength of the relationship between measures of intention and measures of behavior. (b) Explain how the relationship between measures of intention and measures of behavior is affected by the degree of correspondence between the two measures. Do more specific intention measures lead to higher correlations with behavioral measures than do less specific (more general) intention measures? (c) Explain how the relationship between measures of intention and measures of behavior is affected by the temporal stability of intentions. (d) Explain how he relationship between measures of intention and measures of behavior is affected by explicit planning about behavioral performance. Gives examples of circumstances in which the task facing the persuader is that of encouraging persons to act on existing intentions; explain how a persuader might approach such a task.
Theory of planned behavior (TPB)
1. (a) What is the relationship between the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the theory of reasoned action (TRA)? (b) What is perceived behavioral control (PBC)? Describe the sorts of questionnaire items commonly used for assessing PBC. (c) Describe the current state of understanding of the determinants of PBC. (d) Does TPB commonly provide better predictability of intention than does TRA? (e) What is the descriptive norm? Explain how the descriptive norm differs from the subjective norm. Explain the reasoning behind exploring descriptive norms as a possible addition to the TPB. Describe the current state of research concerning possible additions to the TPB.
2. (a) Give examples of circumstances in which PBC might plausibly be the focus of a persuader's efforts. (b) Describe three means of influencing PBC. (c) Explain how directly removing an obstacle to performance can influence PBC. Distinguish (and give examples of) two kinds of obstacles a persuader might try to remove. (c) Explain how successful performance of a behavior can influence PBC; give an example. (d) Explain how vicarious success can influence PBC; give an example.
Elaboration likelihood model (ELM)
1. What is elaboration? How can the degree of elaboration be
assessed? Do variations in the amount of elaboration form a continuum or
discrete categories? Explain the general difference between central and
peripheral routes to persuasion.
2. (a) Identify two broad categories of factors that influence the amount of elaboration undertaken. (b) What is elaboration motivation? Identify two factors influencing elaboration motivation. Explain how involvement (personal relevance of the topic) influences elaboration motivation. What is “need for cognition”? Explain how need for cognition influences elaboration motivation. (c) What is elaboration ability? Identify two factors influencing elaboration ability. What is “distraction”? Explain how distraction influences elaboration ability. Explain how prior knowledge influences elaboration ability.
3. (a) In central-route persuasion, what is the key determinant of persuasive outcomes? Explain. (b) Identify two factors that influence elaboration direction (valence). Explain how the message’s proattitudinal or counterattitudinal position influences elaboration direction. What is argument strength (quality)? Explain how argument quality influences elaboration direction.
4. (a) In peripheral-route persuasion, what influences the outcomes of persuasive efforts? What is a heuristic principle? What activates heuristic principles? Give three examples of heuristic principles. (b) What is the credibility heuristic? Explain how it works. Under what conditions does credibility have relatively greater influence on persuasive outcomes? (c) What is the liking heuristic? Explain how it works. Under what conditions does liking have relatively greater influence on persuasive outcomes? (d) What is the consensus heuristic? Explain how it works. Under what conditions will the consensus heuristic have relatively greater influence on persuasive outcomes?
5. (a) Explain the tradeoff between peripheral cues and elaboration direction as influences on persuasive outcomes. (b) Does increasing elaboration mean increasing persuasion? (That is, does increasing the receiver’s degree of elaboration mean increasing how much the receiver is persuaded?) Explain how distraction influences persuasive outcomes. Identify a circumstance in which distraction might reduce persuasive effectiveness, and one in which it might enhance persuasive effectiveness. (c) Are the consequences of central-route persuasion and peripheral-route persuasion identical? Identify three differences in the consequences of persuasion’s being achieved through one or the other route. How is the persistence of persuasion different? How is resistance to counterpersuasion different? How is the strength of the relationship of attitudes to intentions and behaviors different?