Week 1 Essays - Psychology, Attitude Change, Mind, Behavior

Week 1: Buzz marketing: messages spread through social networks via word of mouth transmission Inexpensive and Self-perpetuating Reaches younger audiences more effectively Uber influencers: the right people to spread the message Mavens: people with specialized expertise; early adopters; opinion leaders Connectors: people with large social networks who carrier the message (from mavens) Salespeople: charismatic people who sell idea to friends Example :"You MUST see this movie." Persuasion as a science Biologists, Chemists, physicists, etc. are all persuaders Must convince people: The merit of their research The research was designed well and carried out correctly The results are interpreted correctly The merit of their theory over competing theories Persuasion of art Artists convey attitudes through their medium Movies can be used to change attitudes about a topic/bring awareness to something E.g., Black Swan, Inside Out Paintings convey some social conscience Guernica Pablo Picasso Shows victims of bombing in agony Painting made moral statement Interpersonal Influence Persuasion works better face to face because it is less conspicuous. The bait: Your friend calls: "Hey, what are you doing this Friday night?" The nibble: Anticipating an invitation, you say "Nothing much, why?" You're hooked and reeled in: "Well, I wonder if you could help me move into my new apartment then? 4 benefits of studying persuasion Instrumental function :Learn to be more effective persuader (increase communication competence) The knowledge and awareness function Knowledge is power; good to know about persuasive strategies The defensive function: Learn to be a more discerning consumer of persuasive messages The debunking function :Understand incorrect assumptions about how persuasion works. E.g., Subliminal messages aren't persuasive Critique of Persuasion Learning about persuasion fosters manipulation. No, persuasion is ethically neutral. The tool can be used for good or bad. Persuasive functions are too inconsistent. Persuasion should be studied so it is better understood. Some generalizations about persuasion have been uncovered Week 2 Defining Persuasion Pure: clear cut cases of persuasion about which everyone agrees. E.g., presidential debate Borderline: cases that are unclear; not everyone agrees E.g., involuntary bodily responses Decisions must be made about what persuasion includes: 1.)Intentionality: Problems with intentionality: Social modeling and socialization processes = persuasion? Outcomes might not be clearly sought. Persuasion can be spontaneous Unintended receivers Hard to capture intent; stated intent may differ from actual intent Interpersonally, mutual persuasion may occur 2.)Effects: Gass Seiter: persuasion can be ineffective Persuasion as a product versus a processes Persuasion can be happening simultaneously Difficult to assess the extent to which persuasion is effective/ineffective E.g., Vote Hillary because she supports Planned Parenthood 3.)Free will and conscious awareness: Persuasion versus coercion Based on recipient's free will (This implies persuasion cannot occur without conscious awareness) But sometimes people are unconsciously persuaded E.g., Preferring job candidates whose resume is on better paper 4.)Symbolic action: Some people say that persuasion is constrained to symbolic action (language, or other acts that are "meaning-laden"). This limits the channel through which persuasion can occur; thus not all communication is persuasion 5.)Interpersonal vs. intrapersonal: Some people: It takes two (+)for persuasion to occur Sometimes persuasion is unintentional Effects may not be discernible People don't always know persuasion is occurring Sometimes persuasion has coercive features Persuasion isn't limited to symbols People can self-persuade Persuasion as a process: Context determines nature of persuasion E.g., face-to-face is two-way, advertising is one-way Synchronous vs. asynchronous Ratio of verbal vs. nonverbal cues in message Which medium is used Goals of message: Self-presentational, relational, instrumental Sociocultural factors: different cultures may influence how a person is best persuade Persuasion- one or more persons who are engaged in the activity of creating, reinforcing, modifying, or extinguishing beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and/or behaviors within the constraints of a given communication context Elaboration likelihood model of persuasion: Two basic routes to persuasion: Central route (central processing): when people think critically about the message and it's content (cognitive elaboration) Peripheral route (peripheral processing): when people consider cues that aren't directly related to the message E.g., focusing on how cute the message sender is ELM posits that central and peripheral processing are the opposite ends of an elaboration continuum; though parallel processing can occur Central processing end = high elaboration; peripheral processing end = low/no elaboration Factors that impact processing route Motivation impacts whether central or peripheral processing is used Topic involvement can impact motivation; high versus low Ability Other variables such as personality traits (E.g., need for cognition) HSM: Two different processing routes: Systematic processing: thoughtful, deliberate processing (similar to central processing) Heuristic processing: relies on decision rules or heuristic cues to simplify the thought process. Simultaneous processing is possible Factors that impact processing: Motivation and Ability Sufficiency principle: People spend as much time and energy into decision-making as a decision requires ElM vs. HSM: Central=systematic Peripheral is broader than heuristic Peripheral includes cognitive, affective, and other responses that lead to simple decision-making Heuristic

Optical Illusions essays

Optical Illusions essays The question What is an illusion? is one that, at first glance, is strikingly simple to answer. Yet, it has eluded many a psychologist until the latter half of the twentieth century, when the workings of our psyche and the processes that underlie it became apparent to those that devoted their lives to the cause of its understanding. Upon further inspection, one realizes that optical illusions are not simply just that they consist of the misinterpretations of sensory stimuli that can be attributed to many reasons, which vary from depth cues to the context within which an image is viewed. Thus, considering the complexity and depth of such a subject matter, it becomes evident and understandable that our quest to understand perceptual illusions has been a long and arduous journey. In order to define the concept of an illusion, an idea central to our discussion, we must refer to the psychological processes of sensation and perception. Let us begin by examining the processes that concern sensation. Our bodies, and for that matter most living things, have special cells called sensory receptors. They can detect light, sound, temperature, pressure, odour, taste, pain, pressure, and balance, among other things. Most of these receptors are on or near the surface of the body such as our eyes, ears, and tongue, but some are internal. Thus, we sometimes classify feelings of pain that are generated from certain regions of the body as those resulting from such elusive, but commonplace, conditions as a toothache or a headache. Each sensory receptor detects its own special form of energy, transduces the aforementioned energy, and transmits a signal to the brain. The reception of the signal in the brain represents sensation. How the brain interprets these signals and makes them meaningful is called perception. Most of the time the interpretation of the received energy is consistent with it. Sometimes, however, our interpretation...