Deck 2: The Psychology of Persuasion: Basic Concepts and Principles

Question 1

If an audience is initially hostile, the first stage in response changing is _______ of their anger of suspicion.

A) Neutralization
B) Defusion
C) Crystallization
D) Transformation

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Fishbein and Ajzen's theory of reasoned action states that the best predictor of behavior is:

A) Intentions
B) Beliefs
C) Values
D) Subjective norms

Answer 2

A

Question 3

________ are starting points for our thought processes.

A) Intentions
B) Values
C) Anchors
D) Defaults

Answer 3

C

Question 4

________ works by rewarding desired behavior and withholding rewards until the desired behavior is forthcoming.

A) Operant conditioning
B) Punishment
C) Incentive conditioning
D) Persuasive messages

Question 5

________ is the uncomfortable tension that results from a person having two conflicting thoughts at the same time.

A) Inconsistency
B) Anxiety
C) Cognitive dissonance
D) Denial

Question 6

Attitudes:

A) Are learned rather than innate
B) Precede and influence behavior
C) Involve intensity of feeling
D) Direct toward a specific thing
E) All of the above

Question 7

Our tendency to rationalize after the fact for decisions we've already made calls into question:

A) Rational choice theories
B) The impact of advertising
C) Nudge theory
D) The impact of cognitive dissonance

Question 8

On any occasion, a persuader might stop short of producing wholesale changes in a persuadee but still consider the effort successful. This is due to ______.

A) Persuasion occurring by degrees
B) Priming effects of persuasion
C) Anchoring biases in persuasion
D) Peripheral routes to persuasion

Question 9

Jane generally supports the work of the Humane Society, but this year she received a persuasive mailer that caused her to write a check for $100 and donate it to the group. This is an example of:

A) Response shaping
B) Response reinforcing
C) Response changing
D) Response crystallization

Question 10

If an audience is hostile, the first stage in response changing is:

A) Intensification
B) Crystallization
C) Neutralization
D) Defusion

Question 11

Subjective norms:

A) Are a component of the theory of reasoned action
B) Can explain why our attitudes do not always predict what action we might take
C) Are the central components of cognitive dissonance
D) Both A and B
E) All of the above

Question 12

Westin's work found that:

A) Voters use the expected utility model or rational choice to make their decisions about candidates
B) Voters sought confirmatory evidence in support of their prior beliefs and reinterpreted the counter-evidence
C) Even as George Bush won the presidency, Al Gore had a more persuasive political campaign
D) Voters' brain scans show that voting behavior is generally based in reasoning processes

Question 13

A study showed that business students are more likely to act competitively toward one another in the presence of a briefcase on the table. This is an example of ______.

A) The elaboration likelihood model
B) The effects of priming
C) Status quo biases
D) BVA theory

Question 14

ELM claims there are two routes to persuasion:

A) Belief based and attitude based
B) Ethical and unethical
C) Central and peripheral
D) Rhetorical and sociological

Question 15

College students tend to sit in the same seats all through the semester. This is an example of:

A) Anchoring bias
B) Status quo bias
C) Optimism bias
D) Representativeness bias

Question 16

Automatically enrolling employees into 401K plans and deducting automatically from each pay check to increase retirement savings, while providing an "opt out" clause, is an example of the application of:

A) Unethical coercion
B) Anchoring bias
C) Negative value theory
D) Nudge theory

Question 17

Advertisers often create a feeling of conflict in us and then offer their product as a way to resolve it. They are using ______ to persuade us.

A) Solution-based theory
B) Rhetorical cognition
C) Cognitive dissonance
D) Operant bias

Question 18

Response shaping occurs when people acquire new beliefs on controversial matters or when they are socialized to learn new attitudes or acquire new values.

Question 19

According to the BVA theory, the stronger our beliefs about positively valued attributes, the less favorable our attitudes toward that object will be.

Question 20

When attitudes toward a contemplated behavior are put together with subjective norms, the combination indicates more accurately how a person will act in a given situation.

Question 21

Priming effects suggest that one part of our decision making comes from our automatic, unreflective decision making and the other from our more rational and reflective self.

Question 22

Central and peripheral processing are not mutually exclusive; much of the time, we use them in combination.

Question 23

Intelligent, self-confident, well-educated people tend to be most persuadable.

Question 24

A common denominator in cases of psychological inconsistency is the sense that something is discrepant.

Question 25

Take the statement "I have a positive attitude toward military service" and construct the hypothetical beliefs and values that might undergird that attitude.

Question 26

Consider level of intelligence as it relates to persuadability. Discuss which intelligence level of humanity is most persuadable and why?

Question 27

Explain and define "the principle of insufficient justification" and its connection to persuadability.

Question 28

The expectancy-value formulation entitled "BVA theory" stands for ____, ______, and _______.

Question 29

________ is defined as the non-conscious activation of knowledge structures.

Question 30

According to the elaboration likelihood model, people who process information ______ ask themselves probing questions, generate additional arguments, and possibly seek new information.

Question 31

According to the elaboration likelihood model, ______ processing is relatively mindless and uses cognitive shorthands (heuristics).

Question 32

When asked how likely it is that A belongs to category B, people answer by asking themselves how similar A is to their image of B; this exemplifies the _________ bias.