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No description available.

No description available.

The effects of various antecedents to cognitive elaboration on the structural properties and subjective beliefs related to attitude strength were examined in 2 experiments. Participants read vaccine-related information and received arguments for and against the implementation of a vaccine program for a fictitious virus. Their ability and motivation to attend to the central merits of the arguments were manipulated using a 2 (high vs. low ability) x 2 (high vs. low motivation) between-participants design, and the effects on 21 attitude- and attitude-strength related outcome variables were observed. Ability was determined by time pressure (Study 1) and distraction (Study 2), and motivation was determined by personal responsibility (Study 1) and involvement (Study 2). A meta-analysis of the experiments revealed that whereas none of the structural properties related to attitude strength were affected, all of the subjective beliefs were affected, and ability and motivation had differential effects. Ability primarily affected beliefs that reflect the validity and consistency of the knowledge base as well as the intensity of the attitude; motivation affected beliefs that reflect the intensity of the attitude and the functional relevance of the attitude object. As well, ability and motivation interacted on a number of variables, with a consistent pattern emerging: High (vs. low) motivation was associated with increased perceived knowledge, clarity, and accessibility, and decreased ambivalence under low ability; the opposite pattern occurred under high ability. Overall, this research represents the first systematic and the most comprehensive attempt to determine which strength dimensions are affected by variations in elaboration. It also provides evidence that the subjective beliefs might operate independent of the structural properties, that various antecedents to elaboration might not be directly interchangeable, and that ability and motivation might have different strength-related outcomes. Finally, this research demonstrated that when used in tandem, the effects of ability and motivation do not necessarily operate in an additive fashion, but can interact in some previously unforeseen ways. / Thesis (Ph.D, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2010-08-23 10:51:04.52

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Inter-group blame for AIDS has been documented across a myriad of cultures. The dynamics of the blame have not been systematically theorised. A cross-cultural study of social representations of AIDS in South Africa and in Britain was used to forge a theory of inter-group blame. Semi-structured, depth interviews were carried out with sixty young, educated, urban South African and British lay men and women. In both cultures ten white heterosexuals, ten black heterosexuals and ten homosexuals (white and black; a number with HIV/AIDS) were interviewed. Textbase Alpha and SPSS-PC were used to analyse the data. Elements of the social context were content analysed: South African and British Government AIDS campaigns and policy-maker discourse. A similar process of inter-group blame was found in the two cultures: Social representations placed responsibility for the origin and spread of AIDS with out-groups. Groups who were blamed for AIDS by hegemonic thinking held themselves responsible for AIDS. The content of the blaming aspersions in the two cultures differed: While colonial, family-centred and individualistic ideologies circulated in both cultures, social representations of AIDS were also infused with Apartheid-linked ideologies in South Africa and with conspiracy theories in Britain. The British data was characterised by high levels of reflexivity concerning AIDS-related blame. The cross-cultural tendency to project blame for AIDS onto others is determined by psycho-dynamic forces. However, historical and ideological forces shape who is blamed and who internalises the blame for AIDS. Inter-group blame had negative consequences for both the 'blamers' and the 'blamed'. The former felt invulnerable to AIDS. The latter internalised the blame emerging with spoiled identities. The thesis concludes with a set of proposals for modifying the pattern of inter-group blame through mass mediated AIDS campaigns.

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This thesis has investigated the effect of a beginning public speaking course upon students. The sample was drawn from students enrolled in courses taught at Ball State University during the Spring Quarter, 1971. An experimental group of thirty-three students enrolled in Speech 210 and a control group of twenty-five students enrolled in Theatre 100 were studied.The three attitudes examined were: (1) self-confidence, (2) leadership, and (3) cooperativeness. These attitudes were measured by the Leary-Attitudes Scale. The test was administered during the first week of the quarter and again during the final week. In addition, a semantic differential, incorporating questions relating specifically to public speaking, was given to Speech 210 students as a part of the post-test.Very few differences in scores were noted between the experimental and control groups as measured by the Leary test. With regard to self-confidence, it was found that (1) freshmen in the experimental group had a significantly greater increase in self-confidence scores than did upperclassmen and (2) upperclassmen in the experimental group had a significantly higher increase in scores than did their counterparts in the control group. In the area of leadership, (1) the experimental group had a significantly greater increase in scores than did the control group and (2) the total population, both the experimental and control groups combined, showed a significant decrease from high (scores sixteen or above) to low (scores below sixteen) leadership. With regard to cooperativeness, the subjects in the control group perceived their class as possessing a significantly lower degree of cooperativeness than the scores of the individual class members indicated they possessed. Many other comparisons were made, but no other statistically significant differences were found.However, the results of the semantic differential contradicted the results of the Leary test. The semantic differential showed that the subjects in the experimental group did increase in their attitudes toward self-confidence over the quarter. These contradictory findings led to the conclusion that the fundamentals of public speaking students may have improved their attitudes as related to speech even though there was no increase in the scores relating to these attitudes on the Leary scale which dealt with the whole personality.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.