Exam 3: Conformity

Walster and Festinger conducted an experiment in which subjects "overheard" a conversation between two graduate students, one of whom expressed an opinion on a certain issue. Subjects' opinions were influenced by the graduate student's opinion when:

John Jost argues that his research covering 44 years worth of studies indicates that the reason conservatives and liberals are not persuaded by each other's arguments rests in individual differences between them. More specifically, conservatives ________ while liberals ____________.

Suppose you belonged to an antinuclear group that wanted to persuade an audience that the development of nuclear power plants should be curtailed. The audience is composed of relatively uninformed adults who are already somewhat in favor of nuclear power. Based on your readings on persuasion, what kind of message would you want to deliver? Would you give the speech yourself or, if not, what kind of speaker would you want to hire? Provide examples of relevant research to support your arguments.

According to the text, what percent of tenth-grade students believed that TV commercials were truthful most of the time?

What characteristics associated with the audience play a significant role in determining the impact of a persuasive communication? Why are they important? Support your reasoning by discussing the results of research involving audience characteristics.

According to Zimbardo, Ebbesen, and Maslach, who analyzed the content of elementary-school arithmetic texts, examples of math problems from most textbooks:

Matthew McGlone found that college students are more persuaded by unfamiliar aphorisms that rhyme (woes unite foes) than the same ideas presented in a nonrhyming fashion (woes unite enemies). This research suggests that _________ can be very subtle and very effective.

When lawyers and politicians want to persuade, they often use:

According to the text, perhaps the best way to encourage young people to use condoms when having intercourse is to:

"The mass media exerts a powerful and pervasive impact on our attitudes and behavior-even if direct attempts at persuasion are not involved." Explain the meaning of this statement, and describe two pieces of research that support it.

Pretend you are a candidate for public office and you are planning to engage in a debate with your opponent. Given the choice, under what circumstances would you wish to speak first? Under what circumstances would you choose to speak last? Explain the reasoning behind your choices.

In thinking about the relative importance of the primacy and recency effects, the most crucial variable is:

The impact of television commercials on very young children is reflected in the fact that:

All other things being equal, the overwhelming weight of experimental evidence on fear and persuasion suggests that, in general, the more frightened a person is by a communication:

When is a two-sided message likely to be more effective than a one-sided message?

Suppose you see an ad for a deodorant that focuses on how effective it is in comparison tests, how it compares in cost to other products, and that it is all-natural. The persuasion appeal is:

According to Aronson, if you were to give one of two persuasive speeches, you would choose to speak second if the time interval between the first and second speech were _______ and the time interval between the second speech and the audience's action were _______.

The more frightened a person is by the communication, the more likely he or she is to take immediate preventive action. This statement:

You are in the market for a new car and think you would like to own a Saab. According to research reported by Richard Nisbett and his associates, which of the following would be most likely to influence your decision?

Generally, high-fear appeals are more effective than low-fear appeals in producing behavior change when: