ATTITUDE FORMATION:Classical conditioning, Subliminal conditioning

<< ATTITUDES:Affective component, Behavioral component, Cognitive component

ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR:Theory of planned behavior, Attitude strength >>

Social Psychology (PSY403)

Lesson 21

ATTITUDE FORMATION

Aims

To introduce the main theoretical approaches to the study of attitudes

Objectives

Evaluate the theories of attitude formation and function

To understand the concepts through applied social psychology lab.

Attitude formation:

In the following, different theories about how attitudes are formed have been explained.

1) Mere exposure (Robert Zajonc, 1968)

The tendency to develop more positive feelings toward objects and individuals the more we are exposed

to them

No action or beliefs about the object required

Familiarity does not breed contempt!

Experiment by Zajonc (1968)

`Experiment to determine how people learn a foreign language'

10 Chinese-like characters on computer screen, 2 seconds each

Characters varied in how many times presented

`These characters are adjectives - are they positive or negative?'

The results showed that the characters presented more often generated a more positive attitude in

the participants. The Figure 1 displayed below explains this.

Figure 1:

Frequency of exposure to previously neutral

objects and subsequent liking

3.5

2.5

Another experiment by Mita, Dermer, & Knight (1977)

Exposure frequency

Participants showed a photo of them and the mirror image

The prints were indistinguishable from each other

Asked to rate which of two prints they liked better

We prefer the mirror print because this is the view of ourselves we most often see

Our friends see the `actual' view

This is the reason why we never like photos of ourselves?

Social Psychology (PSY403)

Figure 2 below illustrates this experiment.

Liking for photo and mirror prints of own

2) Classical conditioning

Classical conditioning when a neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that face

naturally

evokes an emotional response (Learning through association)

Participant

Aarther & Carolyn Staats (1962) fist time investigated

Friend

classical conditioning in association with attitude.

But does this occur with social groups?

The magnitude of the effect was not great, suggesting

classical conditioning may contribute to, but not fully

explain, affective components of attitude formation

An even stronger effect when aversive stimuli paired

with nonsense words (Cacioppo, Marshall-Goodell,

Tassinary, & Petty, 1992)

This suggests that classical conditioning is a more

powerful determinant of attitude formation when little Actual print Mirror print

knowledge is available about the attitude object (e.g., different racial groups?)

Figures 3 and 4 displayed below reflect the effect of pairing positive and negative words with different

nationalities: Study by Staats and Staats (1958)

Swedish

Dutch

Dutch paired with negative

Dutch paired with positive

words/Swedish paired with

positive words

negative words

Subliminal conditioning

Classical conditioning that occurs in the absence of conscious awareness of the stimuli

Krosnick et al. (1992) showed college students slide photos of a stranger going about her daily

activities

Preceded by very brief (13/1000 of a second) subliminal presentations of photos inducing positive

and negative emotions

Those exposed to the positive photos reported more positive attitude toward the stranger.

3) Operant conditioning

Operant conditioning occurs where behaviour is strengthened following rewards and weakened

following punishments. For example, s student may develop a positive attitude to maths if praised for

efforts, but his efforts remain unnoticed then may stop taking much interest in the subjects which may

lead to deterioration in performance.

Classical conditioning -----> affective component

Operant conditioning -----> behavioural component

Social Psychology (PSY403)

Can also develop through the indirect means of observational learning (Bandura, 1986). For example,

if your friend has a car accident, he will start avoid driving due to operant conditioning, but if you

avoid or dislike driving, it will be the result of observational learning. This helps children learn many

activities and skills. Also they learn how to behave in their families and in their culture

4) Self-perception theory (Bem, 1965)

We infer our attitudes from observing our own behaviours (i.e., behaviours can cause attitudes)

Attributional processes - we attribute our own behaviour as being indicative of certain attitudes

Bem argued we are more likely to make attitude inferences when our behaviour is freely chosen

Chaiken & Baldwin's Study (1981)

The researchers conducted an Interesting empirical demonstration of self-perception theory of

attitude formation. They first separated participants into 2 groups: strong and weak

proenvironment. Then they induced them to endorse either relatively pro or anti statements on a

questionnaire. The results showed that the participants who were induced into reporting

proenvironment behavior reported more positive attitude for environment. However, this only

occurred if their initial proenvironment attitude was weak.

5. Facial feedback theory

Strack, Martin, & Stepper (1988) conducted a study to understand the impact of facial expression and

movement on attitude. They showed cartoons to 3 types of participants; those who saw cartoons with

pen in teeth, pen in lips, and in their no dominant hand. Later their attitude toward cartoons was asked.

Pen in teeth (like smiling) vs. Pen in lips (prevents smiling)

Pen in teeth -----> greater liking of the attitude object (cartoon)

This indicates facial feedback hypothesis.

These results also support the vascular theory of emotions, as described below.

Vascular theory of emotion (Zajonc, 1993)

Self-percept ion of environment al at t it udes

Weak prior

Smiling causes facial muscles to increase the flow of air-

attitude

cooled blood to the brain producing pleasant mood.

Strong prior

attitude

On the contrary, frowning decreases blood flow

promoting negative mood. In 1989 the researchers

showed that even pronouncing vowel sound than

other mimicking frowning (u) characters can

decrease blood flow.

Other body postures, sitting upright at a normal-

height table or sitting slumped over at a short-legged

table determined levels of positive attitude (Sabine

P r oe nv i r onme nt a l

A nt i e nv i r onme nt a l

Stepper & Strack, 1993)

Induc e d re po rt s o f o wn be ha v io ur

6. Functional

Attitudes formed (and change) based on the degree to which they satisfy different psychological needs

e.g., changing from liking to disliking a brand of coffee because of anti-environmental practices

Active vs. passive attitude theory

Social Psychology (PSY403)

Applied Social Psychology Lab

Performing actions associated with happiness cause us not only to feel happier but also to perceive other

objects in our environment favourably

Is there any wisdom in parents admonishing their children to straighten their posture and to avoid

slouching?

Reading

· Franzoi, S. (2003). Social Psychology. Boston: McGraw-Hill. Chapter 6.

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