Deck 15: Persuasive Speaking

Question 1

Which of the following generalizations is valid from the perspective of social judgment theory?

A) Persuasive messages that fall within a person's latitude of rejection almost never produce a change in attitude.
B) Listeners with high ego involvement will likely change their attitudes and behavior.
C) The further away a position advocated is from the anchor attitude of listeners, the more likely persuasion attempts will be successful.
D) all of the above

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Factors that significantly influence how consistent your behavior is likely to be with your stated attitude include

A) how socially desirable the behavior is
B) how much effort is required to perform the behavior
C) the attitudes formed indirectly through media images
D) both b and c

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The elaboration likelihood model claims that

A) listeners use both central and peripheral routes to persuasion
B) the peripheral route to persuasion is most frequently used by those individuals with little or no direct personal experience with an issue or problem presented
C) central processing is what skeptics do when presented with a persuasive message
D) all of the above

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Ways to establish speaker identification with an audience include

A) speaking slang and using an occasional obscenity with an audience of teachers at a conference
B) dressing similar to your audience
C) emphasizing common positions, values, and attitudes with an audience
D) both b and c

Question 5

Amy wants to enhance her credibility with her audience because she is faced with a big challenge in changing attitudes about a needle exchange program for the inner city's drug problem. Which of the following is unlikely to enhance her credibility?

A) expressing rage over the terrible plight of drug addicts to demonstrate her intense commitment to change
B) exhibiting a keen interest and enthusiasm for the subject
C) citing sources of evidence to support claims made
D) speaking fluently

Question 6

According to Toulmin, an argument includes which of the following?

A) warrant
B) data
C) claim
D) all of the above

Question 7

"The sale, distribution, and use of drugs should be legalized" is a

A) proposition of fact
B) proposition of value
C) warrant
D) proposition of policy

Question 8

A person who holds two inconsistent ideas, beliefs, or opinions at the same time will likely experience

A) misidentification
B) the contrast effect
C) cognitive dissonance
D) the door-in-the-face phenomenon

Question 9

Barbara wants to convince her audience of college students that they should all become vegetarians. She tries to scare her listeners by presenting several serious health dangers to the eating of meat. This high fear appeal is not likely to work unless

A) she offers simple and easy ways to become a vegetarian
B) she presents high-quality arguments supported by convincing evidence
C) she shows that becoming a vegetarian won't also cause serious health hazards
D) all of the above

Question 10

Geoff proceeds to refute Marissa's claim that "fluoride in the city's water system is dangerous." He states, "Marissa claimed that fluoride is a poison and therefore should be banned from the city's water supply. I strongly disagree. What Marissa failed to tell you is that, according to Dr. James Schmidt, a biochemist at Liverston Laboratories in Kansas City, fluoride is only poisonous in significantly larger quantities than would ever be added to our city's water. Last month's Consumer Reports summarizes the results of more than 25,000 studies, all showing that adding small amounts of fluoride to the water is safe." Geoff accomplishes which of the following steps of refutation?

A) States the opposing argument
B) States a reaction to the opposing argument
C) Indicates what effect the refutation has had on Marissa's claim
D) both a and b

Question 11

In a collectivist culture such as China, which of the following statements would likely be chosen to convince students in an adjacent dorm room to turn down their loud music?

A) "Your music is too loud."
B) "Turn down your music!"
C) "Turn your music down, or I'll start pounding on the walls!"
D) "Your loud music is disturbing many people on this floor."

Question 12

In Toulmin's model of argument, backing supports the

A) rebuttal
B) warrant
C) data
D) qualifier

Question 13

In Toulmin's structure of argument, a word or phrase that indicates the level of likelihood of a claim is the

A) qualifier
B) exception
C) data
D) rebuttal

Question 14

"Lack of education is a primary cause of poverty" is a proposition of

A) value
B) policy
C) fact
D) change

Question 15

Which of these strategies can induce resistance to counterpersuasion (counterarguments)?

A) Inoculate your audience by exposing them to a weakened version of counterpersuasion.
B) Forewarn your audience that counterpersuasion will be attempted.
C) Present your arguments for a specific position.
D) both a and b

Question 16

You present strong arguments to college students to support your claim that tuition and fees at state colleges are too high. You strongly encourage audience members to make a trip to the state capitol and petition legislators to lower tuition rates. It is unlikely that many audience members, if any, will follow your suggestion because

A) you've used the peripheral route to persuasion
B) you've created cognitive dissonance
C) the effort required to visit legislators is too great
D) behaviors are almost never consistent with attitudes

Question 17

Identification as a persuasive strategy means that

A) a speaker determines what the demographic makeup of an audience is
B) a speaker adopts the viewpoint of the audience
C) a speaker affiliates and connects with an audience
D) a speaker finds a point of view to which he or she can relate

Question 18

Pathos is the term Aristotle employed that today refers to

A) logical appeals used to convince listeners
B) emotional appeals used to convince listeners
C) the credibility of the speaker as perceived by listeners
D) propositional statements that serve as the blueprint for persuasion

Question 19

Research on the persuasive effects of the quantity and quality of arguments used to support a proposal reveals that

A) those most affected by the proposal were influenced more by good quality than by high quantity of arguments
B) those least affected by the proposal were influenced more by high quantity than by good quality of arguments
C) those least affected by the proposal were influenced more by good quality than by high quantity of arguments
D) both a and b

Question 20

According to _________ , listeners cope with the bombardment of persuasive messages by sorting them into those that are important, or central, and those that are less relevant, or peripheral.

A) elaboration likelihood model
B) counterpersuasion model
C) Toulmin model
D) parallel procession model

Question 21

Which of the following is not a part of ethos according to Aristotle?

A) competence
B) trustworthiness
C) sentiment
D) dynamism

Question 22

"America faked the moon landing" is an example of a proposition of

A) value
B) policy
C) fact
D) change

Question 23

Conversion is a realistic goal for a student giving a 7-minute speech in a class.

Question 24

The ultimate goal of persuasion is to change the attitudes and beliefs of listeners.

Question 25

Resistance to counterpersuasion (attacks from an opposing side) can be induced by forewarning an audience that an attempt to change their attitudes and behavior will occur.

Question 26

You think that women should have "the right to choose" on the issue of abortion. We can confidently and accurately predict from this attitude that you would get an abortion if the need arose.

Question 27

The strength of an argument depends primarily on the strength of the warrant.

Question 28

Fear appeals are more persuasive when combined with high-quality arguments.

Question 29

Listeners must feel vulnerable for a fear appeal to work.

Question 30

Presenting arguments to support your case is called refutation.

Question 31

The contrast effect works well as a persuasive strategy when used to present your solution to a problem.

Question 32

Identification is a relatively weak persuasion strategy.

Question 33

Identification uses the central path to persuasion.

Question 34

Adopting an informal speech pattern is an example of using the substantive similarity approach to identification.

Question 35

Trustworthiness is always a more important dimension of credibility than competence or dynamism.

Question 36

The difference between persuasion and coercion is that there is free choice.

Question 37

Conversion is a realistic and worthwhile goal for persuasion.

Question 38

A persuasive speech delivered to an audience that is already committed to your cause is not considered a persuasive speech

Question 39

Pathos is the credibility assigned to the speaker.

Question 40

"Continuing education after high school is important for personal fulfillment" is a proper topic for a college-level speech class.

Question 41

Listeners are more likely to accept a big second request or offer when contrasted with a much bigger request or offer.