PSC 151 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, Reinforcement
Document Summary
Attitudes are ubiquitous (everyone has an opinion, it"ll affect things in life: we are not neutral observers, we evaluate what we encounter. Lay belief is that attitudes predict behavior: altering attitude is key to changing behavior. Attitude: evaluation of a person, object, or idea (ie the attitude object) A psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor. Socially adaptive: help us fit in with group. Cognition: thoughts and beliefs: smoking causes cancer and is expensive. Self perception theory: when attitudes are ambiguous, inferred by observing our behavior and the situation in which it occurs: useful when unsure of feelings. Based more on feelings and values than facts or beliefs about nature of the attitude object. Explicit attitudes: attitudes that we consciously endorse and can easily report. Implicit attitudes: attitudes that are involuntary, uncontrollable, and somethings unconscious.
