Psychology

Exam 4 Study Guide

Chapter 12 – Social Psychology

1. Define conformity (book definition).

A type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group. 

2. Define cognitive dissonance (book definition).

The state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, esp. as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.

3. Define the fundamental attribution error (book definition).

Occurs when we overestimate how much another person's behavior can be explained by dispositional factors. It reflects failing to adequately consider the role of some situational factors that may affect a person's behavior.

4. What are the two routes to persuasion discussed in class?

Central and Peripheral.

The central route to persuasion consists of thoughtful consideration of the arguments (ideas, content) of the message. When a receiver is doing central processing, he or she is being an active participant in the process of persuasion. Central processing has two prerequisites: It can only occur when the receiver has both the motivation and the ability to think about the message and its topic. If the listener doesn’t care about the topic of the persuasive message, he or she will almost certainly lack the motivation to do central processing. On the other hand, if the listener is distracted or has trouble understanding the message, he or she will lack the ability to do central processing.

The peripheral route to persuasion occurs when the listener decides whether to agree with the message based on other cues besides the strength of the arguments or ideas in the message. For example, a listener may decide to agree with a message because the source appears to be an expert, or is attractive. The peripheral route also occurs when a listener is persuaded because he or she notices that a message has many arguments -- but lacks the ability or motivation to think about them individually. In other words, peripheral...