Distracting stimuli
Do they elicit or inhibit counterargumentation and attitude shift
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10903236 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Deirdre Maccann Haslett (Economic and Social Research Institute, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1976 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 81-94 |
| Publication date | 1976-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Journal of Social Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0046-2772 • E-ISSN: 1099-0992 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/ejsp.2420060107 |
| OpenAlex | W1967551990 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 20 |
Studied the effects of distracting stimuli, presented simultaneously with a persuasive but counterattitudinal communication, on subvocal counterargumentation and attitude shift. All subjects were first‐year undergraduate male students at Birmingham University, England. The 80 experimental Ss who formed ten different treatment groups, responded to distracting sequences of numbers by performing visual, auditory, vocal and manual tasks, and combinations thereof, while listening to the message. The base‐line group of 28 Ss merely listened to the same communication, which advocated compulsory male sterilisation. After task completion, all Ss were given a six‐item Likert‐type attitude measurement questionnaire, a counterargumentation measurement similar to that devised by T. C. Brock (1967) and a three‐item comprehension test of the arguments used in the communication. The results suggest that distracting stimuli which are greater in intensity or which require a more ‘active’ response from the recipient (up to a certain level of activity) are more likely to inhibit counterargumentation and thus elicit shift toward agreement with the message (while leaving comprehension levels unaffected) than those which are lower in intensity, or which require either a ‘passive’ or a ‘high‐active’ response
Active listening · Audiology · Comprehension · Developmental psychology · Linguistics · Listening comprehension · Test (biology) · Communication · Communication in Education and Healthcare · Medicine · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology · Team Dynamics and Performance
Statistical principles in experimental design.
Persuasion and the Acquisition of Attitudes
Persuasion and the Acquisition of Attitudes
Distraction Hypothesis in Attitude Change
Resistance to persuasive communications
Communication discrepancy and intent to persuade as determinants of counterargument production
Acceptance of persuasion and the inhibition of counterargumentation under various distraction tasks
Communicator Credibility and Communication Discrepancy as Determinants of Opinion Change
Modifying the impact of persuasive communications with external distraction
Distraction increases yielding to propaganda by inhibiting counterarguing
On resistance to persuasive communications
The effectiveness of unanticipated persuasive communications
The relative efficacy of various types of prior belief-defense in producing immunity against persuasion
The Handbook of Research on Teaching
An experimental study of psychological resistances to fear arousing communications
| Citations per year | 0.07 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1986 - 2021 (36) |
| Highly cited | No |