Chapter 8

Question 1

Joanna does not think carefully and deliberately about what a politician says during a debate. Instead, she attends to the politician’s winning smile and boyish good looks. Joanna is attending to the ________ route to persuasion.

Answer 1

Peripheral

Question 2

Which of the following advertising strategies BEST illustrates an attempt to persuade people through the central route?

Answer 2

Research is presented demonstrating that a particular moisturizing lotion is more effective than other products.

Question 3

Stacie listens to a radio commercial for toothpaste. She finds the soothing voice of the announcer appealing, so she buys the toothpaste he advocates. This illustrates the research finding that when people primarily attend to aspects of a message that are tangential to the substance of the message, they are taking the ________ route to persuasion.

Answer 3

Peripheral

Question 4

According to Richard Petty and John Cacioppo’s elaboration likelihood model of persuasion, Nancy will be more likely to process information about the cars she researches through the central route if:

Answer 4

she is personally motivated to devote time and energy to the information.

Question 5

What was the main result of Petty, Cacioppo, and Goldman’s (1981) study regarding students’ attitudes toward a comprehensive exam?

Answer 5

When students believed the exam would be implemented in ten years, the expertise of the source influenced their attitudes, but the quality of the arguments did not.

Question 6

According to the textbook, which route to persuasion is most likely to lead to long-lasting attitude change?

Answer 6

Central

Question 7

Which of the following statements about the effects of subliminal stimuli is most accurate?

Answer 7

Subliminal exposure to thirst-related words can lead thirsty people to drink more.

Question 8

Who is most likely to be influenced by peripheral cues when processing a televised message from an antilittering campaign?

Answer 8

Doug, who is distracted by a conversation he is having with his roommate.

Question 9

What effect will the use of subliminal advertising likely have on product sales?

Answer 9

Sales will not be affected.

Question 10

What should you do to increase your chances of being persuasive if your arguments are weak?

Answer 10

State your arguments with confidence.

Question 11

When should Samantha approach Larissa if she wants her roommate to be most likely to be persuaded?

Answer 11

When Larissa is eating or when Larissa is listening to beautiful music.

Question 12

Which question emphasizes the component called source characteristics?

Answer 12

Are people more likely to buy a brand of aspirin that is recommended by the American Medical Association?

Question 13

________ exemplifies a message characteristic, whereas ________ exemplifies a source characteristic.

Answer 13

The content of a speech; the credibility of a communicator.

Question 14

Why do advertisers hire attractive people to endorse their products?

Answer 14

Attractive people can increase the persuasiveness of a message through the peripheral route because we are more likely to like and trust them.

Question 15

What did the study by Hamill, Wilson, and Nisbett (1980) show regarding participants’ attitudes toward welfare?

Answer 15

Participants were more likely to change their attitudes in response to the story.

Question 16

According to Howard Leventhal and his colleagues’ (1967) study, you would be most likely to quit smoking if you were in condition ________.

Answer 16

Condition (c).

Question 17

Whom should the local police call to best assist them in detecting the liar?

Answer 17

A Secret Service agent.

Question 18

What process is evidence that the sleeper effect has influenced your attitude?

Answer 18

You remember that you had read something about how the sun actually does not cause skin cancer.

Question 19

Which of the following message recipients does NOT display a characteristic that is known to impact his or her susceptibility to persuasion?

Answer 19

Lenny, a Latino man.

Question 20

Sebastian is high in the need for cognition. This means he likes to:

Answer 20

Think deeply about issues.

Question 21

Which scenario best illustrates how audience characteristics tend to impact persuasion?

Answer 21

When Tommy feels sad, he is more likely to attend to pessimistic messages than to optimistic messages.

Question 22

Compared with people who do not like to think, Jamie is:

Answer 22

Less likely to be influenced by peripheral aspects of a persuasive communication.

Question 23

Which of the following should NOT be an attribute of Pablo’s persuasive message?

Answer 23

Using complex scientific language and jargon.

Question 24

According to Howard Leventhal and his colleagues’ (1967) research, your message will be more likely to reduce smoking if you also provide:

Answer 24

Suggestions for how to quit smoking.

Question 25

What idea does Joseph Stalin's quote illustrate?

Answer 25

The identifiable victim effect.

Question 26

The sleeper effect occurs in situations in which messages from ________ sources shift attitudes ________.

Answer 26

Unreliable; after a delay.

Question 27

Which slogan is most likely to persuade members of an independent culture to buy a sunscreen product?

Answer 27

Keeps your skin looking young and healthy.

Question 28

To persuade a large group, a(n)________argument is generally more effective than a(n)________ argument.

Answer 28

Abstract; concrete.

Question 29

How might metacognition help to explain the finding regarding assertiveness ratings?

Answer 29

Participants in the six-behavior condition inferred that they must be assertive because it was easy for them to come up with six assertive behaviors.

Question 30

What did participants in the six-behavior condition infer about their assertiveness?

Answer 30

They must be assertive because it was easy for them to come up with six assertive behaviors.

Question 31

How did participants in the six-behavior condition engage in metacognition?

Answer 31

They engaged in more metacognition.

Question 32

How did participants in the twelve-behavior condition engage in metacognition?

Answer 32

They engaged in less metacognition.

Question 33

Under what circumstances can greater source credibility lead to less persuasion according to the self-validation hypothesis?

Answer 33

When arguments are weak.

Question 34

What effect did head nodding have on persuasion when arguments were strong?

Answer 34

It led to greater persuasion.

Question 35

What effect did head nodding have on persuasion when arguments were weak?

Answer 35

It led to less persuasion.

Question 36

What does the self-validation hypothesis state?

Answer 36

Feeling confident about one's thoughts serves as a form of validation.

Question 37

Who is more likely to feel confident about her love for her boyfriend after making a list of reasons?

Answer 37

Maria, who set her goal at five.

Question 38

What do metacognitions about thought confidence arise from?

Answer 38

All of the above: perceptions of the accuracy or validity of a thought, how easily a thought comes to mind, and how clear a thought is in our mind.

Question 39

Which statement concerning the effects of media on attitudes or behaviors is accurate?

Answer 39

Most studies document no correlation between the amount a political candidate spends on an election and election success.

Question 40

What effect is a Coca-Cola ad likely to have on you?

Answer 40

You are more likely to have positive feelings about Coca-Cola products.

Question 41

Which finding concerning the effects of standard mass communication efforts on attitudes and behaviors is inaccurate?

Answer 41

Teaching adolescents strategies for turning away requests for unprotected sex does not decrease the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.

Question 42

What did George Gerbner and his colleagues find about people who watched a lot of television?

Answer 42

They overestimated the prevalence of criminal activity.

Question 43

What phenomenon describes Roger's belief that his neighbors are more susceptible to television commercials than he is?

Answer 43

The third-person effect.

Question 44

According to Shanto Iyengar's concept of agenda control, what do the media shape?

Answer 44

What people think about, care about, and believe to be true.

Question 45

According to research on agenda control, how likely are participants who read six news stories to cite the deficit as a major problem?

Answer 45

They should be most likely to cite it.

Question 46

What has research on the hostile media phenomenon shown?

Answer 46

We all tend to believe that the media are biased against our particular causes.

Question 47

What tends to draw people's attention?

Answer 47

Information that supports their original attitudes.

Question 48

What did Ziva Kunda's research on selective evaluation reveal about high-caffeine-using females?

Answer 48

They were most critical of the article.

Question 49

Who is likely to resist persuasive attempts to adopt a different brand of soap?

Answer 49

Jack, who does not have a vested interest in any particular brand of soap.

Question 50

According to the process of thought polarization, how is Amir likely to feel after thinking more about a movie he somewhat liked?

Answer 50

He will come to like the film even more.

Question 51

What does Bill's selective attention during the debate illustrate?

Answer 51

Attentional bias.

Question 52

How will Tina likely react to mixed evidence about the Republican candidate?

Answer 52

She will become even more firmly entrenched in her attitude.

Question 53

If you want to increase your resistance to attitude change, what should you rely on?

Answer 53

Attitude inoculation.

Question 54

What strategy is exemplified by the pro-school camp's flyer warning about the anti-school demonstration?

Answer 54

Attitude inoculation; it should increase your resistance to stronger, more detailed attacks.

Question 55

What is the process by which small attacks on beliefs help counteract larger attacks called?

Answer 55

Attitude inoculation.

Question 56

When people make public statements regarding their attitudes, what is likely to happen?

Answer 56

They are more likely to resist later counterattitudinal messages.

Question 57

Compared to people with no prior knowledge, how do people with prior knowledge scrutinize messages?

Answer 57

They are more likely to scrutinize messages and are less likely to change their attitudes about that subject.

Question 58

What have genes been shown to partially account for?

Answer 58

Both political attitudes and political participation.

Question 59

Who shifted their attitudes considerably when exposed to an antipreservation message according to Wendy Wood's findings?

Answer 59

Participants who knew less about the subject.