SOCPSY 1Z03 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Cognitive Dissonance, Leon Festinger, Craig Zobel

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Social Psychology
• Course: SOCPSY 1Z03
• Professor: Paul Glavin

Document Summary

Attitudes: an attitude is a predisposition to respond to a particular object in a favorable or unfavorable way, exists in a person"s mind it is a mental state. An attitude includes an object label, rules for applying the label, and a set of cognitions or knowledge structures associated with that label : evaluative. This component has both a direction (positive or negative) and an intensity (ranging from very weak to very strong) Distinguishes an attitude from other types of cognitive elements: behavioural. An attitude involves a predisposition to respond or a behavioural tendency toward the object. People are inclined to behave in certain ways that are consistent with their attitudes: formation, reinforcement (instrumental conditioning) Learning based on direct experience with the object. If you experience rewards related to some object, your attitude will be favourable: classical conditioning. Associations of stimuli and response: observational learning. E. g. media by observing influence the attitudes of viewers and readers.