COMM 318 1st EditionExam # 1 Study Guide Lectures: 1 - 8Lecture 1 (January 20)Definition of Persuasion1. SHAPE (creating new attitudes)• occurs when individuals possess no established pattern of response to an object/idea/event (when we are trying to create or shape attitudes or beliefs)• is it bad or good?• what are its benefits?• where does it come from?examples: nuclear power in the 1940’sHIV/AIDS during the early 1980’shuman genome project today2. REINFORCE (reinforce current attitudes)• reinforcing currently held beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors• underscores the idea that persuasion is a process occurring over time 3. CHANGE (making existing attitudes different)• most common interpretation of persuasion• involves affecting another person’s cognitions, attitudes or behaviorsexamples:quit smokingstart exercisingGoals & Targets of Persuasion 1. COGNITIONS: beliefs about the world• easiest of the three to influenceexamples:benefits or limitations of the recent health reform billsPace Picante sauce is for cooking2. ATTITUDES(S)• predisposition to respond in a particular manner• more engrained, consistent and enduring than our beliefs3. BEHAVIOR • actionexamples:American Red CrossPersuasion MatrixShape Reinforce Changecognition __x_____________x___________x__________attitude ___x____________x___________x__________behavior ___x_____________x__________x__________Definition of Attitudes1. A Definition: “a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object”• attitudes are learned• attitudes are relatively enduring, though they may evolve• attitudes guide behavior (consistent with what we do)Lecture 2 (January 27)Sources of Attitudes1. COGNITIONS-thoughts, beliefs • e.g. belief that broccoli is nutritious2. AFFECTIVE/EMOTION• e.g. taste or appearance of broccoli3. PAST BEHAVIOR• e.g. personal history of broccoli consumptionCharacteristics of Attitudes two key characteristics of attitudes1. attitude accessibility• attitudes vary in how quickly they may be retrieved from memory and applied 2. attitude strength• we hold some attitudes more or less strongly than othersThe LaPierre (1934) Study & The Attitude-Behavior Controversy 1. examined attitudes and behaviors regarding a Chinese couple traveling in the Western US2. visited 66 hotels and 184 restaurants • refused service/lodging at 1 location3. 6 months after the visit, each establishment was sent a questionnaire• 128 establishments replied• 91.5% indicated that they would NOT provide service/lodging to a person from China 4. measure of attitude is worthless in predicting behavior 5. raised considerable questions about the attitude-behavior relationship ***attitude did NOT predict behavior***Problems with Measuring Attitudes1. problems with questionnaire measures of attitudes• carelessness (multitasking)• extremity• tendency to select most extreme responses on scale• acquiescence • agreeing with an item regardless of its content• social desirability • answering the way one “thinks” they should• the tendency to give socially appropriate responses to avoid looking “bad” or uniformed 2. indirect measures of attitudes • developed to try and avoid biases and problems with direct questionnaire measures of attitudes • observing people without their awareness of being observed• inferring attitudes from observed behavior• observing behaviors that elude conscious control• focus on people’s physiological reactions to social stimuli • dupe the subjectMeasurement Correspondance (TACT)1. the degree of match between the attitude measure and the behavior measure (measure of attitudes correspond to our behavior)• Target: what is the attitude object?• Action: what is being done to or with the object?• Context: in what setting does the action occur?• Time: when does the action take place?2. measurement analysis of LaPiere study (1934)entities attitude measure behavior measureTarget Chinese people asian couple+white manAction service serviceContext not applicable not applicableTime future present3. TACT= does a measure of attitudes actually latch on to the behavior we are trying to predict? 4. if attitudes are measured effectively, they WILL predict behaviorInstances when attitudes are most likely to predict behavior1. social norms are unimportant (do not put pressure on the situation)(when you don’tcare what others think)2. time is limited (no time to think, just operate on attitudes)3. attitudes are based on direct experience (more likely to become applicable in real life)(past behavior can predict future behavior)4. attitudes are accessible (right there to use in your sub-concious)Lecture 3 (January 29)Differences between conditioning and learning1. learning: a relatively stable change in behavior that results from prior experiences 2. conditioning: to cause to respond in a specific manner to a specific stimulusGeneral types of learning/condition theories1. behavioristic (S-R)• people are regarded as reactive victims of external rewards and punishments with no freedom of choice or capacity for self-direction• attitude and behavior change occur automatically, without conscious human awareness2. cognitive (S-O-R)• human cognitive and interpretive processes shape external reality and determine our responses to the environment• free will is critical Classical Conditioning1. occurs when a connection is drawn between two events in the environment2. the main idea is that a UCS(Unconditioned Stimulus)-CS(Conditioned Stimulus) pairing is created and eventually the CS alone elicits the UCR (which becomes the CR)• the CR is the result of conditioning rather than of an inherent link between stimulus and response3. STEPS in classical conditioning • UCS= a stimulus that is connected inherently or by prior conditioning to someresponse (salivating by eating)• CS=initially neutral (meaningless) stimulus (bell)• if the CS and UCS are presented together, after a period of time, the CS alone elicits the UCR—which is the termed the CR (Conditioned Response) ex:UnConditioned Stimulus- FOODUnConditioned Response- SALIVATION (food naturally causes dog to salivate)Conditioned Stimulus- BELL (bell and food are presented together)Conditioned Response- SALIVATION (over time, through pairing, the bell alone also causes the dog to salivate)Lecture 4 (February 3)Social Cognitive