Deck 7: Attitudes and Attitude Change

Question 1

Which of the following is true about the attractiveness heuristic?

A) Attractive people are more persuasive than unattractive people.
B) Attractive people must also be considered experts to be maximally persuasive.
C) The link between attractiveness and persuasion only applies to physically beautiful people, not to people who are likeable.
D) All of the above

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Linda is a thinker and she enjoys a good mental challenge. Every time she needs to make a decision she spends time weighing the pros and cons and considering the consequences of her decision. It is likely that Linda would be most persuaded by which of the following?

A) Heuristic cues
B) Strong arguments made by an expert speaker
C) A lengthy message
D) Weak arguments made by an expert speaker

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Elliot is a detective who enjoys solving puzzles and figuring out whodunit. Elliot is great at his job because he enjoys engaging in systematic processing. Elliot is high in _______.

A) the connectedness motivation
B) elaboration likelihood
C) need for cognition
D) ambivalent attitudes

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Research on the connectedness motivation has shown all but which of the following (i.e., which result does not belong)?

A) High self-monitors are more persuaded by image-focused appeals.
B) Low self-monitors are more persuaded by value-expressive appeals.
C) Individuals who are told to have a pleasant interaction will not think too hard about their partner's point of view.
D) Asian Americans are more persuaded by messages that emphasize relational obligations.

Question 5

In a classic study by Petty et al. (1981) participants were asked to listen to a persuasive message advocating that students take comprehensive exams before they graduate. The results showed that:

A) When the participants thought they would not be personally affected, they were more persuaded by the strong arguments than the weak arguments.
B) When the participants thought they would be personally affected, they were more persuaded by the expert communicator than the nonexpert communicator.
C) Regardless of self-relevance, people were always more persuaded by the attractive than the unattractive communicator.
D) When the participants thought they would be personally affected, they were more persuaded by the strong arguments than the weak arguments.

Question 6

In which scenario will people be LEAST likely to engage in systematic processing?

A) When the information they have about an issue is mixed.
B) When complex messages are written in layperson's terms.
C) When messages include a lot of jargon and complex grammar.
D) When people are highly motivated.

Question 7

Research on advertising aimed at children has shown that:

A) Young children do not realize that commercials are trying to persuade them.
B) Children are more likely to have a negative view of a parent who refuses to buy them a toy seen advertised on television.
C) Children are more likely to play with a ""not so nice"" boy who has a toy that they've seen advertised on television.
D) All of the above

Question 8

Who should be most able to differentiate strong arguments from weak arguments?

A) Maurice, who just had a cup of coffee.
B) Max, who just had a glass of wine.
C) Morgan, who is distracted.
D) Milton, who is furious with his boss.

Question 9

According to the affect-as-information hypothesis people who experience ______ should be more likely to process information systematically.

A) Happiness
B) Pride
C) Excitement
D) Sadness

Question 10

One theory of emotion and processing suggests that certain emotions make people feel more certain or confident and that influences how they process information. For example, _______ makes people feel confident and therefore they _______.

A) happiness; process information systematically
B) surprise; process information systematically
C) happiness; process information superficially
D) surprise; process information superficially

Question 11

When people take the peripheral route they are engaging in ________ processing. In contrast, when people take the central route they are engaging in ________ processing.

A) superficial; systematic
B) systematic; superficial
C) implicit; explicit
D) explicit; implicit

Question 12

The model that claims that attitude change occurs through either a peripheral route or a central route is called the ________.

A) Metacognition Model
B) Elaboration Likelihood Model
C) Mastery Motivation Model
D) Implicit-Explicit Attitudes Model

Question 13

If a waiter wants to capitalize on the attractiveness heuristic in order to get more tips, but he's not particularly good looking, what can he do?

A) Make sure his hair looks perfect every day before going to work.
B) Give his customers free appetizers.
C) Compliment the customers he sees frequently.
D) Subtly mimic the movements of his customers.

Question 14

Which of the following people will be perceived as more competent and therefore more likely to encourage you to make a health-related lifestyle change?

A) Barney, who is baby-faced.
B) Frank, a fast-talker.
C) Peter, who presents both sides of an issue.
D) Mike, who is your trusted mechanic.

Question 15

Who will be most likely to persuade you to buy a new pair of shoes?

A) An athlete who wears the brand of shoes she endorses.
B) An athlete who looks good in the brand of shoes she endorses.
C) An athlete who endorses one pair of shoes but consistently wears shoes of a different brand.
D) An athlete who gets paid millions to endorse a brand of shoes.

Question 16

A young father is writing a letter to his neighbors trying to convince them to build a new playground in their neighborhood. He's worried that, because his neighbors have such busy lives, they won't take his letter seriously. Given this information, what advice would you give to this young father?

A) Make the letter as short as possible.
B) Make the letter short and fill it with as many statistics about the relation between play and children's health as possible.
C) Make the letter as long as possible.
D) Write the letter on light blue paper because that color has been shown to help people focus.

Question 17

What is the first step involved in systematic processing?

A) Metacognition
B) Attending to information
C) Comprehending information
D) Reacting to information

Question 18

Research on commercials for prescription drugs shows that:

A) They do a good job getting people's attention
B) People react positively to such commercials
C) People often reject what they hear in such commercials
D) It is difficult for perceivers to comprehend the drugs' side effects.

Question 19

Emmanuel just saw an ad for a Mediterranean vacation. This ad makes him wonder whether to take a week off of work for vacation or to continue working. On the one hand, he's feeling pretty burnt out and thinks he could benefit from a break - and he would love to visit the Mediterranean. On the other hand, he could use the extra cash from working more hours. This process whereby Emmanuel considers his reactions to the advertisement is known as ___________.

A) elaboration
B) heuristic thinking
C) the peripheral route to persuasion
D) inoculation

Question 20

Research on metacognition has shown that people engaging in systematic processing who produce ________ elaborations and are ________confident are more readily persuaded.

A) less; fewer
B) less; more
C) more; more
D) more; fewer

Question 21

Which of the following findings about systematically processing strong vs. weak messages is true?

A) People will be more persuaded by 10 strong arguments than by 5 strong arguments
B) People will be less persuaded by 10 weak arguments than by 5 weak arguments
C) Attitude objects that stimulate favorable affective elaborations will be more persuasive.
D) All of the above

Question 22

According to research on fear-arousing communications, which anti-smoking advertisement will be most persuasive?

A) An ad that suggests that you might live but others will die from breathing in your secondhand smoke.
B) An ad that presents a number of graphic images of diseased lungs and rotten teeth.
C) An ad that shows graphic images of tarred lungs as well as information on how to quit.
D) An ad that is presented to smokers who are already afraid of getting cancer.

Question 23

Lucy is high in need for cognition and she is doing some research on various products that she wants to buy. Which of the following products is Lucy likely to be persuaded to purchase?

A) A shampoo being advertised by a well-known supermodel.
B) An athletic shoe with an advertisement that contains a lengthy description of all of the scientifically proven benefits of the shoe.
C) A face wash with an advertisement that portrays an expert giving some strong arguments and some weak arguments for buying the face wash.
D) All of the above

Question 24

Christopher is at a party and he meets two other students. During the course of the evening the three students start discussing capital punishment. Bernard shares Christopher's beliefs that capital punishment should be allowed, but unlike Christopher, Bernard thinks it should only be used if DNA evidence proves the identity of the suspect. In contrast, Stephen is against capital punishment. At the end of the night Christopher thinks, ""I really liked meeting Bernard, his views were identical to

A) contrast; assimilation
B) assimilation; contrast
C) contrast; reinterpretation
D) reinterpretation; assimilation

Question 25

Explain how the presentation of familiar messages can backfire.

Question 26

You are part of a team of ad agents that is creating a commercial for a new car. Your goal is to persuade consumers to buy the car and not change their minds before they get to the car dealership. List the 4 steps involved in systematic processing and describe how each consumers will go through each step before deciding to buy the advertised car.

Question 27

When will someone be likely to engage in superficial processing and when might they be likely to engage in systematic processing? What are the benefits and drawbacks of each type of processing?

Question 28

Imagine that you are a prosecuting attorney and you are at trial. Your evidence against the defendant is very strong, you just hope that the jurors are persuaded to convict. Should you give your closing arguments first or last? Why?

Question 29

Describe one study (including the method and results) that highlights the importance of self-relevance in determining whether or not someone will process a message superficially or systematically.

Question 30

You are selling a new brand of diet soda and you want to market it in a variety of ways to appeal to a large audience. Explain how you would alter your advertisements to cater to the following groups: a) high vs. low self-monitors, b) individuals from individualistic vs. collectivistic cultures, and c) people who have a prevention vs. a promotion focus.

Question 31

Briefly describe one study that shows the power of advertising on children.

Question 32

Do people process information systematically when they are in good moods? Describe two models/theories that try to explain how good moods influence processing. Finally, what does the research actually show?

Question 33

Explain how people use both systematic and superficial processing when viewing advertisements. Illustrate with an example from your own life.

Question 34

A realtor is trying to sell a newly-renovated house. Explain how the realtor could use evaluative conditioning, and 2 other persuasion heuristics to sell that house.

Question 35

What is the difference between strong attitudes and ambivalent attitudes? Next, explain whether or not each type of attitude serves mastery and/or connectedness needs.

Question 36

As Gavin is walking down the street, he is stopped by a volunteer who urges him to sign a petition to stop the development of a large mall that is scheduled to be built down the block. Gavin notices that the strength of the arguments that the volunteer uses are very mixed. As one of the architects of the new mall, Gavin refrains from signing the petition. What is Gavin likely to remember about this encounter?

A) The strong arguments made by the volunteer.
B) The strong arguments as being more compelling.
C) The weak arguments made by the volunteer.
D) All of the above

Question 37

________ is the process whereby people who consider arguments against their personal opinions in advance, are less easily persuaded later.

A) Inoculation
B) Reinterpretation
C) Resistance
D) Assimilation

Question 38

Research on attitude inoculation has shown that:

A) Exposure to a counter-attitudinal message in advance makes people more likely to change their attitudes.
B) Inoculation can lead people to resist being persuaded on the target issue as well as related issues.
C) Inoculation works best if it targets a specific attitude rather than a value.
D) Resisting persuasive messages leads people to hold less extreme views later.

Question 39

A lot of attention has focused on the power of subliminal advertising. Research on subliminal priming has revealed which of the following results?

A) Subliminal priming consistently overpowers conscious thought.
B) Subliminal priming can make people behave in ways that go against their attitudes and goals.
C) Subliminal priming can make people do what they were already going to do.
D) All of the above

Question 40

Imagine that you are a researcher interested in studying college students' use of illegal drugs. What can you do to ensure that your participants answer your questions honestly?

Question 41

What is the difference between implicit and explicit attitudes and what exactly is the relationship between these two types of attitudes?

Question 42

Attitudes can serve a number of different functions. Briefly define the 4 different functions of attitudes. Next, give an example of an attitude and explain how the same attitude can serve both mastery and connectedness needs.

Question 43

What is the difference between the cognitive information people know about an attitude object, the affective information people know about an attitude object, and the behavioral information people have about an attitude object? Illustrate these differences by relating each to the decision to vote for a particular political candidate.

Question 44

Why do our attitudes tend to remain one-sided?

Question 45

Your school is thinking about raising tuition and are trying to convince the students that this increase would benefit them in the long run. One of the methods they are using to convince the students is to mail each student a pamphlet with information on all of the benefits. As a student, you are very against the idea of a tuition increase. What are three ways that you could resist being persuaded? Next, imagine that included in the pamphlet is the date for an open meeting with the school board

Question 46

People have attitudes about just about everything.

Question 47

Exposing individuals to multiple persuasive messages that are weak increases the likelihood that they will endorse the opposite position.

Question 48

People who are motivated to pay attention to a message will often be more persuaded by an expert source than by a strong message.

Question 49

Children below the age of 6 do not understand that television commercials are designed to persuade them (i.e., their parents) to buy something.

Question 50

People who are in good moods are more likely to be persuaded by superficial cues.

Question 51

One way to guarantee unbiased attitudes is to engage in a lot of deep thinking.

Question 52

When it comes to persuasion, being forewarned is to be forearmed. People who know a persuasion attempt is coming are less likely to change their attitudes later.

Question 53

People think that others are more easily persuaded than they personally are.

Question 54

Through practice, people can learn to be more resistant to persuasion.

Question 55

Janna likes SUVs because they are big enough to hold all of her outdoor equipment. This summary evaluation that Janna has made of SUVs is known as a(n) _________.

A) stereotype
B) prejudice
C) attitude
D) attitude object

Question 56

Viewers pay more attention to commercials played during television programs that contain a lot of sex and violence.

Question 57

People who process information systematically are unaffected by heuristic cues.

Question 58

Researchers can detect people's attitudes about topics such as alcohol abuse and premarital sex by measuring the muscle activity of one's face.

Question 59

People's implicit attitudes and their explicit attitudes are typically the same.

Question 60

Politically conservative individuals are less likely to support the use of energy-efficient technology.

Question 61

People can form multiple attitudes about the same attitude object.

Question 62

Our attitudes are influenced by our genes.

Question 63

It is impossible to subliminally influence people's attitudes.

Question 64

Over time a message that contradicts one's personal beliefs will later be recalled as supporting one's beliefs

Question 65

Perceivers, young and old and across different cultures, judge the same type of faces to look more competent.

Question 66

Attitudes formed via superficial processing last longer than attitudes formed via systematic processing.

Question 67

Genie was just asked out by the boy she has a huge crush on. After she got off the phone with him, she squealed with excitement. At this point, the direction of Genie's attitude is ________ and the intensity of her attitude is ________.

A) favorable; extreme
B) extreme; favorable
C) neutral; moderate
D) moderate; neutral

Question 68

Surveys, questionnaires, political polls, and directly asking are all examples of which way of assessing people's attitudes?

A) Implicit measures
B) Superficial measures
C) Systematic measures
D) Self-report measures

Question 69

If a researcher wants to assess the type of attitudes that people are willing to express on self-report measures, what type of attitudes are being assessed?

A) Voluntary attitudes
B) Explicit attitudes
C) Implicit attitudes
D) Instrumental attitudes

Question 70

Why is it so hard to change strong attitudes?

A) Because they are comprised of both positive and negative reactions
B) Because they are formed through superficial processing
C) Because their information base is lopsided
D) None of the above

Question 71

Neal is against the death penalty, but then again, if someone ever harmed one of his family members he might be more in favor of the death penalty. These differing reactions to the death penalty are an example of ________attitudes.

A) Superficial
B) Ambivalent
C) Strong
D) Affectively-based

Question 72

Joan is flipping through a magazine and comes across an advertisement for a new brand of deodorant. The ad is full of lovely, colorful flowers and puppies. Joan decides that she must go out and buy this new deodorant. Joan's attitude was influenced by:

A) the persuasion heuristic
B) evaluative conditioning
C) the familiarity heuristic
D) systematic processing

Question 73

Which of the following is the best example of evaluative conditioning?

A) Have participants fill out a scale indicating their like or dislike for a particular product.
B) Pair a product that participants only see once with upbeat music, so that the product will be noticed.
C) Repeatedly pair a product with white noise so that the participants may fully concentrate on the product's positive characteristics.
D) Repeatedly pair a product with pictures of smiling faces.

Question 74

Research on evaluative conditioning has shown which of the following results?

A) It only takes a single pairing of a nonsense syllable and a positive image for positive attitudes toward the nonsense syllable to form.
B) Pairing pictures of beer with pictures of snarling animals results in more negative implicit attitudes.
C) People must be aware of an association for evaluative conditioning to work.
D) All of the above

Question 75

Larry is having a great day. He just found out that he got a scholarship, he's really enjoying his classes, and the weather is beautiful. If Larry decides to go shopping and buy a new pair of shoes, it is likely that his attitude toward the new shoes is based on:

A) The appearance of his new shoes
B) His mood
C) The weather
D) All of the above

Question 76

The more you see it, the more you like it is a phrase that nicely sums up:

A) The elaboration effect
B) Metacognition
C) The mere exposure effect
D) Persuasion

Question 77

In a study by Bornstein at al. (1987), participants were asked to make a series of decisions with 2 confederates. During the decision-making process, the two confederates often disagreed so the participant was forced to be the tie-breaker. The results showed that participants were more likely to side with the confederate who:

A) was familiar to them.
B) had expert knowledge on the subject.
C) was attractive.
D) was of the same gender as the participant.

Question 78

What type of argument would benefit most from repetition?

A) A strong argument
B) A weak argument
C) A long argument
D) A short argument

Question 79

Maryanne is a very health-conscious and eco-friendly person. Her goals in life are to treat herself well and to treat the earth well. Maryanne is looking to buy a new house. Which of the following factors about house #1 will most impact Maryanne's decision to buy it?

A) The house is in Maryanne's price range.
B) The house has a sun room.
C) The house has energy-efficient appliances.
D) The house is a few blocks away from a power plant.

Question 80

Which of the following is true about affectively-based attitudes?

A) We often receive affective information before we receive cognitive information.
B) Affective information is often stronger than cognitive information.
C) Some affective reactions reflect genetic predispositions.
D) All of the above