Social Attitudes:

How do attitudes affect behaviors, and vice versa?

Use components of attitude, studies of attitude formation and persuasion, cognitive dissonance, and attributions to answer question above.

How do ways we process social information (all the stuff from previous question) contribute to formation of stereotypes?

Concepts:

Attributions - what is an attribution, different types of attributions, different patterns, effects of patterns.

Cognitive Dissonance, confirmation bias, categorization, etc.

Stereotype Vs Prejudice

What else?

Example questions

2. Describe an example from the news or current events where a stereotype is used. Show how it is more than just a generalization.

4. Describe how confirmation bias can result in the persistence of prejudice and stereotypes.

13. Take an implicit attitude test and discuss the concept (you can include your reactions and those of your classmates) in the following terms: 1. category, 2. stereotype, 3. prejudice, 4. discrimination, 5. "ism". Be sure to give examples for at least three of the five terms for the IAT you take , the examples can come from anywhere. They should be realistic, not hokey.
Implicit Attitude Test
(you can choose demonstration or research)

4. Your partner has forgotten an important date (your birthday, anniversary, or something like that). Give 2 attributions you may make about her or his behavior that are in different categories (see answers from question above for categories). Label each one, which category it is in.

4 &5. One of the reasons attributions are important is because they affect how people act in the future. Give an example of two different attributions for the same event, and describe how the person's behavior would differ based on the different attributions.

5. Give an example of an attribution that represents the idea of telling a personal story in a political context. You can use topics raised in class or one of your own.

Little Jesse is having trouble in school. One parent, Jeff, says he is always out of his seat and bothering other students and not focusing on his work, maybe he has attention deficit disorder. The other parent, Mary, says there are too many kids in each class and the teachers don't give kids consistent discipline.
4. Jeff's attribution of Jesse's behavior is
a. dispositional - on-going
b. dispositional - temporary
c. situational - on-going
d. situational - temporary

5. Describe one way they may deal with Jesse while doing homework differently based on their attributions.

6. Choose any social perception process and give an example that shows that process.

6. One reason stereotypes persist is because people have a tendency to look for information that fits in an existing schema and supports that schema rather than seeking a wide range of information. This tendency is called
a. actor observer bias
b. confirmation bias
c. functional inference
d. self-serving bias

1. Research on stereotypes has shown (circle ALL that are true)
a. making race salient (e.g. by asking for it on top of test) could impact test performance if one has heard stereotypes about race and intelligence.
b. people can and do choose an interpretation of other people's behavior that matches their expectations about that group of people.
c. people who hold stereotypes can subtly alter their behavior so that others act in a way that confirms stereotype.
d. stereotypes affect people only through direct acts of discrimination.

1. What are the components of an attitude? (Circle all the are true.)
a. behaviors
b. behavioral intentions
c. feelings
d. thoughts/beliefs
e. physiological/body responses

Little Jesse is having trouble in school. One parent, Mary, says there are too many kids in each class and the teachers don't give kids consistent discipline.
2. Mary's attribution of Jesse's behavior is
a. dispositional
b. situational

3. People experience cognitive dissonance when they notice that their
a. attitudes have been changed by persuasion.
b. behavior do not match their strongly held attitudes.
c. behavior is in line with their beliefs.
d. perceptions are incorrect.

4. Classical conditioning is most likely going to affect which component of an attitude?
a. behaviors
b. behavioral intentions
c. feelings
d. thoughts/beliefs
e. physiological/body responses