Deck 6: Attitudes

Question 1

In their 1993 study, Cacioppo and others presented participants with a list of category words that depicted objects they liked and disliked. The result: Brain-wave patterns that are normally triggered by inconsistency increased more when a

A) disliked stimulus appeared after a string of neutral items.
B) liked stimulus was shown after a string of negative items.
C) disliked stimulus appeared after a string of negative items.
D) liked stimulus was shown after a string of positive items.

Answer 1

liked stimulus was shown after a string of negative items.

Question 2

All self-report measures assume that

A) attitude is fundamentally changing and dynamic.
B) attitude change is a matter of inference, not motivation.
C) people honestly express their true opinions.
D) people often reveal their implicit attitudes in private.

Answer 2

people honestly express their true opinions.

Question 3

Which of the following would not be considered an attitude?

A) Darnell likes to play chess.
B) Daphne hates liver.
C) Daisy strongly favors universal health insurance.
D) Dalton drives a silver minivan.

Answer 3

Dalton drives a silver minivan.

Question 4

One way to increase the accuracy of self-report measures of attitudes is to

A) offer many, rather than fewer, response options.
B) use a single attitude scale, rather than multiple scales.
C) focus on attitudes regarding sensitive and personal issues.
D) convince respondents that any deception can be detected.

Question 5

Attitudes are useful because they

A) let us quickly judge whether something we encounter is good or bad.
B) help build a personal preference in the way we interpret new information.
C) make it more likely for us to change our minds later in light of new information.
D) allow us to take more time to evaluate others and new information.

Question 6

Cacioppo and Petty (1981) recorded facial muscle activity of college students as they listened to a message with which they agreed or disagreed. The results of this study indicated that listening to a(n) ____ message increases activity in the ____.

A) disagreeable; cheek muscles
B) disagreeable; chin muscles
C) agreeable; cheek muscles
D) agreeable; muscles in the forehead and brow area

Question 7

One potential problem with self-report measures is that respondents

A) typically dislike them.
B) react with a negative attitude change.
C) might not respond truthfully.
D) express views whose validity cannot be assessed.

Question 8

A positive, negative, or mixed response to a person, object, or idea is called a(n)

A) aversion.
B) cognition.
C) emotion.
D) attitude.

Question 9

In trying to assess attitudes about particular subjects, public opinion pollsters have become aware that attitude responses seem to be affected by all of the following factors except the

A) context in which the question appears.
B) wording of the question.
C) order of the questions.
D) length of the questionnaire.

Question 10

Which of the following concerning the use of facial electromyography (EMG) to assess attitudes is true ?

A) It can detect muscular changes not observable to the naked eye.
B) It does not provide information related to attitudes unknown to the participant.
C) It sometimes leads to the same pattern of activity being interpreted as happiness or sadness.
D) It is only an accurate measure of attitudes if people know their attitudes are being assessed.

Question 11

Russell Fazio and others (2000) found that people who were focused on their positive or negative attitudes toward computerized faces, compared to those who were not, were

A) slower to notice negative facial cues in real-life interactions.
B) slower to notice when the faces were "morphed" and no longer the same.
C) faster in matching a "morphed" face with the original face.
D) faster in discriminating others' positive attitudes from negative ones.

Question 12

Shaniqua plans to use a self-report measure in which people indicate their agreement or disagreement with a list of statements using a multiple-point scale. She must, therefore, use the

A) Likert scale.
B) self-validation hypothesis.
C) dual-process model of persuasion.
D) sleeper effect.

Question 13

When used to measure attitudes, physiological measures such as heart rate and perspiration reveal

A) social desirability bias.
B) the intensity of an attitude.
C) whether an attitude is positive or negative.
D) the level of control researchers have.

Question 14

Jacqueline, an attitude researcher, is interested in how people feel about alcohol. She wants to ensure that her respondents answer with greater honesty and with less positive spin. She would be well-advised to use the

A) Likert scale.
B) bogus pipeline.
C) sleeper effect.
D) self-validation hypothesis.

Question 15

In terms of positive versus negative emotions, the feeling of ambivalence can be described as a manifestation of an attitude that is

A) dual.
B) indifferent.
C) positive.
D) negative.

Question 16

Which of the following is demonstrated by someone who is outwardly welcoming of racial minorities but harbors unconscious prejudice?

A) Attitudes enable us to judge quickly and without much thought whether something we first encounter is good or bad.
B) A person's attitude represents a unique relation between that person and a specific attitude object.
C) At times, people have both positive and negative reactions to the same attitude object without feeling conflict.
D) The attitude formation process, much like a reflex action, is often quick, automatic, and "implicit."

Question 17

The covert attitude measure that uses electrodes pasted onto the scalp to record the waves of electrical brain activity is called a(n)

A) facial electromyography.
B) bogus pipeline.
C) electroencephalograph.
D) implicit association test.

Question 18

Which of the following is not used to overcome the limitations of traditional self-report methodology?

A) The bogus pipeline
B) The Likert scale
C) Facial electromyography
D) Covert videotaping

Question 19

Jaycee is extremely judgmental. She has strong opinions about politics, social issues, and moral concerns. Jaycee is most likely a case of

A) high need for cognition.
B) high need for evaluation.
C) low evaluative conditioning.
D) low cognitive dissonance.

Question 20

Wells and Petty (1980) videotaped students as they listened to a speech. The results of this study indicated that most students made

A) vertical head movements to indicate resentment.
B) horizontal head movements to indicate confusion.
C) vertical head movements to indicate agreement.
D) horizontal head movements to indicate boredom.

Question 21

Implicit Association Tests (IATs) can detect implicit attitudes by measuring

A) the participants' mood after responding to word pairings.
B) the time it takes participants to complete the whole test.
C) participants' facial muscles as they are exposed to positive or negative stimuli.
D) the speed at which participants associate stimuli with a positive or negative word.

Question 22

Research has shown that those who are physiologically highly reactive to sudden noise and other unpleasant stimuli are more likely to favor

A) same-sex marriage.
B) more lenient treatment of juvenile offenders.
C) musical artists, TV shows, restaurants, and amusement parks.
D) policies seen as protective against domestic and foreign threats.

Question 23

The process by which we form an attitude toward a neutral stimulus because of its association with a positive or negative person, place, or thing is called

A) evaluative conditioning.
B) central persuasion.
C) insufficient justification.
D) psychological reactance.

Question 24

Implicit attitudes can be difficult to measure because they

A) are not among the attitudes the participant is aware of.
B) can be effectively assessed by physiological measures.
C) can only be measured by direct techniques.
D) are prone to the desire to be viewed favorably by others.

Question 25

Sally is a staunch Democrat. She has been arguing with Jim, who is a staunch Republican. In the course of their discussion, Sally is able to withstand the arguments Jim offers for his position, but just barely. She realizes afterward that her own counterarguments to his were pretty weak. Subsequent to this realization, Sally's attitude will

A) become less certain.
B) remain unchanged.
C) become more certain.
D) change to agree with Jim.

Question 26

A political candidate is often eager to win the endorsement of celebrities who are popular with hordes of people. The candidate hopes that the association of his or her campaign with a popular figure will result in the masses feeling more favorable toward his or her candidacy due to

A) evaluative conditioning.
B) inoculation.
C) the sleeper effect.
D) behavioral intent.

Question 27

Research on the attitudes of twins suggests that

A) genetics are not useful in predicting the attitudes different people will hold.
B) the attitudes of identical twins are more similar than the attitudes of fraternal twins.
C) the attitudes of twins who are reared apart from one another are more dissimilar than the attitudes of twins raised together in the same household.
D) the first-born twin is likely to be more conservative than the second-born twin, even when their births are only separated by minutes.

Question 28

In a study about political attitudes and opinions during the 2004 presidential election, researchers used brain imaging to examine what happened in the brain when participants listened to positive or negative statements about the candidate of their choice. They found that most affected were those areas of the brain associated with

A) emotion.
B) reasoning.
C) speech.
D) mood.

Question 29

An implicit attitude measure would be particularly more predictive than an explicit attitude measure in assessing an attitude toward

A) wearing a seat belt.
B) owning a pet.
C) church attendance.
D) committing suicide.

Question 30

Which of the following theories suggests that intentions to perform a behavior are best predicted by attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control?

A) Theory of planned behavior
B) Cognitive dissonance theory
C) Self-perception theory
D) Self-affirmation theory

Question 31

The theory of planned behavior posits that behavior is a function of attitudes, subjective norms, behavioral intentions, and the

A) amount of time we have considered engaging in the action.
B) correspondence between the attitude and the action.
C) amount of control we perceive to have over our own actions.
D) costs of engaging in the action.

Question 32

According to research by Tormala and Petty (2002), an attitude can be ____ by a persuasive message or argument ____ it.

A) weakened; for
B) strengthened; against
C) weakened; against
D) strengthened; for

Question 33

Which of the following indicators is not used to distinguish weak attitudes from strong ones?

A) How much the attitudes affect one's self-interests
B) The attitude's relationship to deeply held philosophical, political, and religious values
C) The amount of perceived behavioral control
D) How much the attitude impacted family, friends, and social intergroups

Question 34

Ichiro, a member of a campus political group, is surveying how many students plan to vote in the 2020 presidential election. According to the theory of planned behavior, which of the following questions would be the best predictor of whether or not a particular student would actually vote in the election?

A) What are your attitudes toward U.S. politics?
B) What are your attitudes toward voting in U.S. presidential elections, when race has taken center stage in many political debates?
C) What are your attitudes toward the politicians in general?
D) What are your attitudes toward the use of the electoral college through which it is possible for the winner of the presidential election to receive fewer popular votes than the loser?

Question 35

Which statement regarding LaPeer's (1934) study of attitude is false?

A) Even though respondents who were asked self-report questions claimed that they would not be racially prejudiced, their behavior showed clear discrimination.
B) The study examined racial attitudes at a time when prejudice was much more overt and blatant than it currently is.
C) LaPeer was not a psychologist.
D) Over 90 percent of the respondents claimed that they would not offer service to a Chinese patron.

Question 36

An attitude is implicit if you

A) try to hide it.
B) are unaware of it.
C) cannot measure it.
D) disagree with it.

Question 37

Stephen Kraus's (1995) meta-analysis on the relationship between attitudes and behaviors showed that attitudes

A) are only tenuously linked to behavior.
B) significantly and substantially predict future behavior.
C) significantly predict future behavior, but it is a relatively small effect size.
D) invariably predict future behavior.

Question 38

Miss Roberto is concerned that Talia and Emily avoid playing with Michael because he is African American. Which strategy would best enable her to assess any unconscious dislike these two students feel toward Michael?

A) Ask them why they don't want to play with him.
B) Measure the girls' brain activity when they are forced to play with Michael.
C) Administer an IAT to examine the girls' racial attitudes.
D) Administer a self-report questionnaire examining the girls' racial attitudes.

Question 39

According to the theory of planned behavior, one reason that a person's behavior might not be consistent with that person's attitudes is that the behavior is

A) determined by norms that are consistent with the person's attitudes.
B) one that the person feels is within his or her control.
C) determined by norms that are counter to the person's attitudes.
D) manifest only when the person is self-aware.

Question 40

Gloria has a negative attitude toward smoking, but she continues to smoke two packs of cigarettes a day. According to the theory of planned behavior, one reason that her attitude and behavior are inconsistent could be that her

A) attitude is based on feelings rather than beliefs.
B) belief that she can control her smoking behavior is weak.
C) family and friends also have negative attitudes toward smoking.
D) attitude is usually accessible when she reaches for a cigarette.

Question 41

Appeals made in person, over the Internet, or through the mass media rely on the spoken word, the written word, and the image or video. To understand why certain approaches are effective whereas others are not, social psychologists seek to understand

A) whether persuasion is moral or not.
B) how and why persuasive communications work.
C) the central route persuasion, but not peripheral.
D) the peripheral route persuasion, but not central.

Question 42

While watching the presidential debate on television, Matilda critically evaluated the arguments made by each candidate and was persuaded to support the candidate who in her view seemed to present well-balanced, intelligent arguments. Thus, Matilda exhibited

A) psychological reactance.
B) central route persuasion.
C) impression management.
D) attitude-discrepant behavior.

Question 43

Eric does not really know how to answer the essay question about cognitive dissonance on his social psychology exam. He decides to write as many facts as he knows about the topic of attitudes in his exam book, hoping that the professor will not read the exams too closely and will be impressed enough by the length of his essay to give him a good score. Eric is hoping to take advantage of

A) the sleeper effect.
B) the peripheral route to persuasion.
C) the central route to persuasion.
D) dissonance-related insufficient justification.

Question 44

Stanley's stock broker calls him and says, "I have a great stock buying opportunity for you, but I need to know right away if you want to make the purchase." Stanley refuses to act so quickly, and says, "sorry but I really need to take time to think about this and decide if it is right for me. I'll get back to you." Stanley is going to use ____ as he decides if he should follow his broker's advice.

A) heuristic
B) extension
C) peripheral processing
D) elaboration

Question 45

Which of the following is an important conclusion based on research on the link between people's attitudes and behavior?

A) Our evaluations of an object do not always determine our actions because other factors must be taken into account.
B) Our evaluations of an object always determine our actions even when other factors must be taken into account.
C) When attitudes are strong and specific to a behavior, at least in non-Western cultures, the effects are beyond dispute.
D) When attitudes are weak and peripheral to a behavior, at least in Western cultures, the effects are beyond dispute.

Question 46

The process by which attitudes are changed is called

A) persuasion.
B) dissonance.
C) conditioning.
D) elaboration.

Question 47

An attitude that is brought to mind quickly and easily is said to be

A) accessible.
B) strong.
C) weak.
D) dissonant.

Question 48

Persuasive communication is the outcome of three possible factors. They are the following except

A) source.
B) audience.
C) message.
D) context.

Question 49

When message recipients use central route processing, which of the following will be true ?

A) Messages learned with difficulty will be more persuasive than easily learned messages.
B) Memorable messages will be more persuasive than forgettable ones.
C) Weak messages will engender more favorable responses than strong messages.
D) Elaboration of message content will be objective and unbiased.

Question 50

The process by which a person is persuaded by cues in the persuasion context rather than thinking critically about the content of a persuasive message is called

A) psychological reactance.
B) planned behavior.
C) the peripheral route to persuasion.
D) evaluative conditioning.

Question 51

Yanquan is a staunch green advocate. He has been arguing with Marcela, who is a conspicuous consumer. In the course of their discussion, Yanquan is able to withstand the arguments Marcela offers for her position, and he does so in a strong and convincing fashion. He realizes afterward that his own counterarguments to Marcela's were pretty solid. Subsequent to this realization, Yanquan's attitude will

A) become less certain.
B) remain unchanged.
C) become more certain.
D) change to agree with Marcela.

Question 52

Which of the following statements concerning the impact of body movements on persuasion is true ?

A) People who nod their heads up and down express greater agreement with a persuasive message than those who shake their heads side to side.
B) Stimuli associated with stretching the arms outward are rated more positively than those associated with flexing the arms inward.
C) Nodding the head side to side makes people more likely to engage in central route processing than does nodding the head up and down.
D) Stretching the arms outward makes people less likely to engage in central route processing than does flexing the arms inward.

Question 53

The central route to persuasion requires

A) intelligence and strong arguments.
B) involvement and an expert source.
C) ability and motivation.
D) knowledge of the issue and a credible source.

Question 54

Gino, a salesperson, wants to use techniques that will lead his potential customers to rely on peripheral route persuasion. He should do all of the following except

A) speak quickly (but not too quickly) when presenting information about his product.
B) get the customer to nod in the affirmative while he is presenting his sales pitch.
C) present his sales pitch to customers who are clearly in a rush.
D) approach prospective buyers who obviously care deeply about his product.

Question 55

Wilken and others (2010) conducted a study where American and Japanese participants were asked about their favorite musical artists, TV shows, and restaurants, among other preferences. They found that

A) the Japanese reported liking their favorites for a shorter time than the Americans did.
B) the Americans were more impacted by the preferences of their friends than were the Japanese.
C) the Japanese reported more discomfort in identifying their favorites than did the Americans.
D) the Americans were more likely to report that they had a wide variety of favorites at one time, while the Japanese selected only one or two favorites at a time.

Question 56

The process by which a person thinks hard and carefully about a communication and is influenced by the strength of its arguments is called

A) psychological reactance.
B) evaluative conditioning.
C) cognitive dissonance.
D) the central route to persuasion.

Question 57

The primary difference between the models of persuasion proposed by Hovland and McGuire and that proposed by Greenwald is that Greenwald's model

A) does not allow for central route processing.
B) emphasizes the role of elaboration in producing persuasion.
C) does not include reception as one of the information-processing steps in persuasion.
D) proposes that memory of message content is the most important determinant of persuasion.

Question 58

Which of the following is true in William McGuire's analysis of the phenomenon of persuasion?

A) People who are less smart or low in self-esteem are less willing to accept the message as they may have trouble learning its contents.
B) People who are more smart or high in self-esteem are more willing to accept the message, but they may have trouble learning its contents.
C) People who are smart or high in self-esteem are better able to learn a message but are less likely to accept its call for a change in attitude.
D) People who are smart or high in self-esteem are better able to learn a message and are more likely to accept its call for a change in attitude.

Question 59

People who are high in intelligence and/or self-esteem tend to be ____ vulnerable to persuasion when compared to people low in intelligence and/or self-esteem.

A) only marginally more
B) only marginally less
C) equally
D) significantly less

Question 60

On the central route to persuasion, the process is eminently

A) emotional.
B) instinctive.
C) rational.
D) cynical.

Question 61

Roger and Mike always seem to disagree on music. Roger likes a new song that he heard on the radio. Since the song is from a genre that Mike really enjoys, Roger tells him about it. Mike is very likely to ______________ than he would have had Roger not spoken to him about it

A) like the song more
B) like the song less
C) dislike the song more
D) dislike the song less

Question 62

As personal involvement regarding an issue increases, the _____________ becomes a more important determinant of persuasion.

A) quality of the arguments
B) credibility of the speaker
C) attractiveness of the speaker
D) length of the arguments

Question 63

Josie listened to a speech on the radio from a noncredible speaker advocating the increased use of automobiles that are not reliant on fossil fuels. One would expect the sleeper effect to be greatest if Josie found out about the background of the speaker ____ the speech and was asked about his views about the issue ____.

A) before; that same day
B) after; that same day
C) before; a few weeks later
D) after; a few weeks later

Question 64

In their research on the effects of fear arousal in politics, Mark Landau and others (2004) found that college students expressed more support for then-President George W. Bush and his policies when

A) the central route to persuasion was significantly more in use compared to the peripheral route.
B) the peripheral route was used intermittently with an in-depth political message repeated at intervals.
C) reminded of their own mortality or subliminally exposed to images of 9/11 than when they were not.
D) there were no specific instructions on how to cope with the aftermath of 9/11, thus leaving people panic-stricken and feeling helpless.

Question 65

Which of the following statements concerning the use of fear appeals is not supported by research?

A) Fear appeals may motivate change by increasing the incentive to think carefully about the arguments in the message.
B) Fear appeals are generally less effective than messages that do not provoke fear.
C) Fear appeals are most effective when they include specific information on how to avoid the threat.
D) Fear arousal may reduce the ability of already fearful message recipients to carefully process a message.

Question 66

Michael believes that one's family is more important than one's career. In order for him to successfully convince his achievement-oriented friend Ronald that he should also possess such a value system, Michael should

A) take the very discrepant position that careers never provide satisfaction anywhere close to what a family provides.
B) more often than not use the peripheral route rather than the central route of persuasion.
C) present as many arguments for his position as possible, highlighting the downside of choosing career over family.
D) suggest more of a balance between family and career concerns than is currently true for Ronald.

Question 67

A trust-establishing trick in which the source appears to tell a buddy about a new product that works is an example of

A) a public service message.
B) overheard communication.
C) the self-interest rule.
D) a political campaign.

Question 68

Because communicator trustworthiness is important, people tend to be readily impressed by speakers who

A) are highly paid in their profession.
B) argue against their own interests.
C) talk slowly and deliberately.
D) are well-dressed.

Question 69

Sleeper effects can be reduced by reminding people that the source of a persuasive message was not credible. This supports which of the following explanations of sleeper effects?

A) The inoculation hypothesis
B) The discounting cue hypothesis
C) Psychological reactance theory
D) Cognitive dissonance theory

Question 70

Which of the following factors has the biggest impact on whether or not there will be a primacy or recency effect in persuasion?

A) Time
B) Source credibility
C) Source likability
D) Number of sides presented

Question 71

Vicki is a lawyer who is trying to decide which of two forensic experts she should hire to provide testimony in a case. One of them charges a significantly higher fee than the other. If Vicki wants the jurors to perceive her expert as trustworthy-and if she expects the witness's fees to become part of the trial record when he testifies-then she should select

A) the more expensive expert.
B) the less expensive expert.
C) either one because of their status in their field.
D) the expert who has the most experience testifying in court.

Question 72

While shopping at the local mall, Ithon is approached by a person who asks her to sign a petition for stricter gun control laws. If Ithon uses the central route to decide whether to sign the petition, then she will be more likely to sign if the person who approaches her is a

A) physically attractive man.
B) veteran member of the National Rifle Association.
C) long-serving member of the law enforcement.
D) campaigner whose arguments are strong and well-thought out.

Question 73

Likability of a communicator is determined by

A) similarity, while other factors play a marginal role.
B) physical attractiveness, while other factors play a marginal role.
C) both similarity and physical attractiveness.
D) similarity, physical attractiveness, and proximity.

Question 74

Dr. Flintstone, president of Quarry College, needs to convince students that the college must double its tuition beginning in five years. He is hiring someone to promote this idea, as well as developing supportive arguments. Would he need to adopt a different strategy if he instead wanted to implement the change in the next academic year?

A) No. He should do the same thing either way.
B) Yes. If the change is to happen next year, the strength of the arguments will matter more than whom he hires to promote the idea.
C) Yes. If the change is to happen next year, the person he hires will matter more than the strength of the arguments.
D) Yes. If the change is to happen next year, obtaining a credible promoter and generating strong arguments will both be more crucial than if the change will happen in five years.

Question 75

A sleeper effect occurs when

A) persuasion occurs in response to subliminal stimuli.
B) a persuasive message from a noncredible source becomes more persuasive over time.
C) distraction interferes with the ability to pay attention to a persuasive message.
D) people fall asleep during exposure to a persuasive message.

Question 76

If you want to convince a friend to abandon an attitude and start thinking more like you, what would be the best approach?

A) Provide information that will use fear to manipulate your friend into changing his attitude.
B) Use a subtle form of criticism so that you friend feels bad about himself for holding his current attitude.
C) Be cautious in your approach and do not promote an idea that is too different than your friend's current attitude.
D) Present a strong argument that is diametrically opposed to what your friend currently believes.

Question 77

Jon and Kate give consecutive speeches on opposing sides in a debate on solar energy. Audience members are asked to register their view a few weeks later. The order of the speeches will affect the audience's decision by causing a ________ effect.

A) primacy
B) subliminal
C) recency
D) null

Question 78

According to a 2018 Gallup poll, ____ were rated as being the most honest and having the highest ethical standards.

A) nurses
B) medical doctors
C) clergy
D) pharmacists

Question 79

A classic dilemma in advertising concerning the value of celebrity spokespersons is that the more products a celebrity endorses, the

A) more competent she becomes in endorsing competing products.
B) less trustworthy she becomes in the eyes of consumers.
C) more popular she becomes among consumers with vastly dissimilar preferences.
D) less likely an audience member is to use the peripheral route to persuasion.

Question 80

Which of the following source characteristics best explains why a company might recruit a supermodel to endorse its products?

A) Similarity
B) Credibility
C) Likability
D) Trustworthiness