PSYC 221 Spring 2013 Study Guide for Exam 2 A word of advice read the textbook chapters thoroughly but you can skip over any section that I tell you to skip see below The chapters that will be covered are 6 8 9 10 and part of 7 I Attitude Change A Learning theory Behaviorism not interested in inner thoughts i Behavior is influenced by environment Operant and classical conditioning similar to attitude formation ex political attitudes in college i Research has shown that political attitudes are socialized to have specific views depending on parents political views how you were raised socialized wanted to see if atmosphere change would change a When people go to college views more liberal because academic atmosphere is more liberal b After graduation attitudes tend to veer back to what they were before B Balance theory noted in your textbook Heider s P O X theory The idea that relationships among one person P the other person O and an attitude object X may be either balanced or unbalanced a Balanced is the term for consistency b States that balanced states are preferred over unbalanced states and that unbalanced states motivate people to change them to balanced states C Equilibrium theory people value consistency and balance Motivated to keep things in balance with each other in our minds Want our attitudes thoughts and emotions to be in sync with each other D Cognitive Dissonance inconsistency between attitude and behavior or a second attitude 2 cognitions knowledge that I believe X knowledge that I publicly stated not X or publicly behaved not X unpleasant mental state mental tension when attitudes don t match up with behavior we like consistency i ex Eliot Spitzer publicly against prostitutes than found that he had a sexual relationship with a prostitute no longer advocate against prostitution a in general the pattern that is seen is that instead of changing behavior because you can t go back one changed their attitude to make it consistent with their behavior Ingredients necessary for cognitive dissonance to occur i feeling of free choice in decision ii outcome consequence is tied to the decision iii minimal external justification ex Festinger in the 20 group a recall extrinsic vs intrinsic motivation iv can t go back and change behavior reverse decision II Social Influence Compliance Persuasion being in public is another moderating factor in private you will still feel cognitive dissonance but it s not as strong as when you re in public and attitudes and behavior are visible to others don t like being perceived as inconsistent a Learning theory pair with positive negative affective stimulus b Norm of reciprocity want to return favor by accepting offer i Scarcity 1 Hard to get valuable heuristic 2 Deadline technique order NOW limited availability restricting someone s freedom with small span of time 3 Reactance c Commitment cognitive dissonance 1 Consistency seek to resolve because its uncomfortable 2 Watch my stuff people more likely to step up if someone asked them to watch their things in a staged robbery study 3 Foot in the door can I borrow 100 ok how about 5 4 Low balling 5 Implications for initiation rites hazing a Positive correlation with connection commitment loyalty and high pain effort increases group cohesiveness b Group belonging c Cognitive dissonance effort justification d Source of message 1 Similarity familiarity to audience experiences demographic mannerisms appearance clothing 2 Likability charisma Halo Effect 3 Cooperativeness demonstrating agreeableness 4 No conflict of interest or against own interest 5 Authority figure celebrity expertise e Audience 1 Personality a Need for cognition strong arguments not the most convincing i Self conscious self monitoring brand names styles celebrities 2 3 Motivation personal relevance Distraction fatigue a dilution effect when people are inundated with irrelevant info b ego depletion c automatic processing 4 Intelligence moderate levels of intelligence most easily persuaded 5 Age young adults more open info attitudes experiences older adults more resistant f Elaboration of Likelihood Model ELM 1 Theory that posits two routes to persuasion via either conscious or automatic processing a Conscious route involves conscious processing persuasion that involves careful and thoughtful consideration of the content of the message b Peripheral route automatic processing involves the influence of some simple cue such as how attractive the source is g Resisting attitude change inoculation counter arguments etc 1 Source derogation 2 3 Situational factors Inoculation rehearse counter arguments prepared if situation arises a Forewarning of intent to persuade easier to resist if you know that someone is trying to persuade you more skeptical analytical Forewarning of position of the message b 1 Information gossip reputation good deeds vs transgressions transgressions weigh more in peoples minds than good deeds 2 Stigmatization influence others by making behavior socially acceptable unacceptable ex homosexuality 3 Conditioning learning Premack Principle 4 Ostracism group behavior 5 Authority expertise charisma referent power idol 6 Legitimate power police teachers societally sanctioned 7 Cosercive violence or threat of violence b Stanley Milgram experiment Yale University 1 Aftermath from WWII and Holocaust 2 Administer electric shocks to confederate when they got a question wrong 3 2 3 obeyed through highest shock level fully obeyed 4 Obedience declined somewhat in downtown CT office not affiliated with Yale campus part of legitimate power came from being associate with Yale 5 Proximity of learner and authority figure 6 Direct contact responsibility 7 Implications a Good vs evil Obedience a Types of influential status power b Power of the situation external attribution environmental context socialization Conformity a Normative informative social influence Asch line study 1 Normative desire to fit in 2 3 Asch line study Informative desire to be correct a Have subjects look at lines to see which are equal in length only one is real subject the others are confederates who give wrong answers i found that other went along with the group on 37 of the trials b Reasons distortion believe group is correct knew they were c wrong but went along to avoid discomfort If at least one other person says correct answer drops to only 5 who go along with the majority i Subject reports warm feelings toward partner but deny they had influence on decision ii
View Full Document
Unlocking...