1. What are attitudes? What are some the different ways that we may acquire attitudes: e.g., classical conditioning, subliminal conditioning, instrumental conditioning, observational learning, social comparison? What are the functions of attitudes?

2. What role do genetic processes play in attitudes? How big is the role? What evidence is there? Are all attitudes equally impacted by genetics?

3. What is Attitude-Behavior consistency? What evidence exists that suggests Attitudes and Behaviors may be inconsistent? What are the values (and or range of values) of the typical correlation (r) and its associated squared correlation (r2) for attitudes and behaviors, and what does this tell us? What are some of the reasons attitudes and behaviors may be inconsistent? How can we increase the consistency between attitudes and behaviors?

4. How do attitudes influence behavior? What is the Theory of Reasoned Action? What is the attitude process model? How do these theories differ? BONUS: Of the metaphors that we have discussed, what metaphor does the theory of reasoned action most reflect? What metaphor does the attitude process model most reflect?

5. What is the history of the study of persuasion?

6. What are the major variables that influence whether attitude change will result from exposure to persuasive appeals? How do these variables interact with one anther and what effect do they have on persuasion? (again, know the studies).

7. What is Petty & Cacioppo’s Elaboration Likelihood Model of attitude change? What metaphor does this model reflect?

8. What processes seem to be involved in resistance to persuasion? What are reactance, selective avoidance, and attitude inoculation?

9. What is Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Theory? What attitudinal phenomenon is it thought to explain? What evidence exists to support this theory? Be sure you can interpret P-O-X triangles

10. What are the 3 major (direct) routs discussed in class to dissonance reduction? What are 3 major experimental paradigms used to induce dissonance?

11. What is the distinction between direct and indirect routs to dissonance reduction? What are the indirect routs to dissonance reduction.

12. What evidence exists to suggest that dissonance really is an aversive emotional state?

13. How does culture influence cognitive dissonance?

14. What is the role of hypocrisy in behavior change?

1. What are social norms? What functions do they serve?

2. What is Normative Focus Theory? What does is suggest about normative behavior? What data is there to support this theory?

3. Distinguish between conformity, compliance, and obedience.

4. What were the Sherif Autokinetic effects studies, what did they demonstrate, and what did subsequent studies (e.g. Jacobs and Campbell) demonstrate.

5. What were the Asch Line Judgement studies, what did they demonstrate, and what influence do variables like group size and unanimity have on conformity?

6. Be able to compare and contrast Sherif and Asch studies, especially with respect to informational vs. normative social influence.

7. What is the culture of honor, how has it been explained, and what data is there to support this view?

9. What factors contribute to efforts to resist conformity?

10. What impact can minority status have on conformity?

11. What are the principles underlying compliance?

12. What are the foot-in-the-door, low-ball, door-in-the-face, that’s-not-all, piquing, playing hard to get, and the deadline techniques of compliance? Also, be familiar with ingratiation, playing hard to get, deadlines, pique technique

13. What were the Milgram Studies of obedience, what inspired them and what were they trying to explain? Also, what variables seemed to influence the strength of the obedience effects? Further, what factors seem to reduce destructive obedience?

14. What is indoctrination, what are the stages, and how does it work?

– Note: know all the studies, what they did (the different conditions), and what the results were. You do not need to know numbers/scores for groups, but do know what groups were higher/lower on the DV of interest (this goes for all the studies we covered, as well as major studies covered in the book).