Study Guide for Exam 3 Unit 7 Attitudes Bold terms from the reading Beliefs pieces of information about something facts or opinions Attitudes global evaluations toward some object or issue Dual attitudes different evaluations of the same attitude object implicit versus explicit Implicit attitudes automatic and nonconscious evaluative responses Explicit attitudes controlled and conscious evaluative responses Stigma an attribute that is perceived by others as broadly negative Mere exposural effect the tendency for people to come to like things simply because they see or encounter them repeatedly Classical conditioning a type of learning in which through repeated pairings a neutral stimulus comes to evoke a conditioned response Unconditioned stimulus a stimulus that naturally evokes a particular response Unconditioned response a naturally occurring response Neutral stimulus a stimulus that initially evokes no response Conditioned stimulus a neutral stimulus that through repeated pairings with an unconditioned stimulus comes to evoke a conditioned response Conditioned response a response that through repeated pairings is evoked by a formerly neutral stimulus Operant conditioning instrumental conditioning a type of learning in which people are more likely to repeat behaviors that have been rewarded and less likely to repeat behaviors that have been punished Social learning a type of learning in which people are more likely to imitate behaviors if they have seen others rewarded for performing them and less likely to imitate behaviors if they have seen others punished for performing them Attitude popularization the finding that people s attitudes become more extreme as they reflect on them Balance theory the idea that relationships among one person the other person and an attitude object may be either balanced or unbalanced Cognitive dissonance theory the theory that inconsistencies produce psychological discomfort leading people to rationalize their behavior or change their attitudes Effort justification the finding that when people suffer or work hard or make sacrifices they will try to convince themselves that it is worthwhile Post decision dissonance cognitive dissonance experienced after making a difficult choice typically reduced by increasing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and decreasing the attractiveness of rejected alternatives Tyranny of choice the idea that although some choice is better than none more choice is not always better than less choice Accessibility how easily something comes to mind A B problem the problem of inconsistency between attitudes A and behaviors B beliefs Belief perseverance the finding that once beliefs form they are resistant to chance even if the information on which they are based is discredited Coping the general term for how people attempt to deal with traumas and go back to functioning effectively in life Assumptive worlds the view that people live in social worlds based on certain Cognitive coping the idea that beliefs play a central role in helping people cope with and recover from misfortunes Downward comparison comparing oneself to people who are worse off Additional points to make sure you know from the reading In addition to all the bold terms questions will be drawn from the entire section entitled do attitudes really predict behaviors 1 What crisis did Wicker s critique provoke in the field Many social psychologists had spent their careers studying attitudes and they were very disturbed to hear that attitudes were just little ideas flitting around inside people s minds that had no connection to what the people actually did 2 Know how people responded to the crisis i e be able to describe all the scenarios for which it was discovered that people s behaviors do actually map onto their attitudes reasonably well 1 The gap between general attitudes and specific behaviors was too big For example someone may be in favor of helping people generally but might be afraid of needles so he or she will refuse to give blood If researchers measured attitudes toward giving blood these behaviors were much better predictors of behavior 2 Another solution to the problem comes from aggregating behavior which means combing across many different behaviors on different occasions A person s attitude toward helping others is better measured by several tests i e giving blood donate to charity volunteer 3 General attitudes can cause behavior but only if they are prominent in the person s conscious mind and influence how the person think about their choices When asked to give blood the person might say no depite having a favorable attitude to helping other because the person doesn t think of it in terms of helping others Questions will be drawn from the section on belief perseverance 1 Make sure you can define and identify examples of belief perseverance Belief perseverance is the finding that once beliefs form they are resistant to change even if the information on which they are based is discredited 2 Know the findings of the Anderson et al 1980 study Half participants are told risk takers make better firefighters other half told that cautious people make better firefighters Then asked to come up with theory as to why this is Even after they were told that the evidence was bogus participants didn t abandon their theories 3 Make sure you know some ways to combat belief perseverance Explaining the opposite theory e g why a cautious person makes a better firefighter over a risk taker reduces or eliminates belief perseverance From the lectures 1 Define attitudes A favorable or unfavorable evaluative reaction toward something or someone Includes affective behavioral and cognitive components 2 How are attitudes different from beliefs Beliefs are pieces of information facts or opinions about something Attitudes are global evaluations toward some object or issue you like or dislike something 3 Identify examples of the ABC dimensions of attitudes Affective Feeling positively toward Bob Hoskins Behavioral Going out and watching all of Bob Hoskins films Cognitive Thinking Hey Bob Hoskins is pretty cool 4 Explain what is meant by dual attitudes Be able to define implicit and explicit attitudes Dual attitudes are different evaluations of the same attitude object implicit versus explicit Implicit attitudes are automatic and nonconscious evaluative responses Explicit attitudes are controlled and conscious evaluative responses 5 Describe the IAT what it stands for
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