FF:PSB_320 Persuasion-theory/practice - Course Information

PSB_320 Persuasion – theory and practice

Extent and Intensity

1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).

Teacher(s)

PhDr. Pavel Humpolíček, Ph.D. (lecturer)
PhDr. Stanislav Gálik (seminar tutor)

Guaranteed by

PhDr. Zdenka Stránská, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jarmila Valchářová

Timetable

Wed 15:00–16:35 L11

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

• Psychology (programme FF, M-PS) (2)

Course objectives

Student will learn:  The theory of persuasion and its practical applications  To apply the theory of persuasion  To think about the communication in the new ways and to apply advanced persuasion techniques  To discover manipulation of others and to resist more easily  To use acquired psychological knowledge in communication process

Syllabus

• 1. Introductory class Syllabus, requirements. “Lesson appetizer”.
• 2. Persuasion exercise
• 3. Introduction to persuasion, attitude and attitude change. Communication process. Persuasion fundamentals. Definition. Ethics. Historical perspective (Sophists, Plato, Aristotle, Obama). Attitude definition. Tripartite model. Self-perception theory. Explicit and implicit attitudes. Functional approach to attitudes (utilitarian, ego-defensive, value-expressive, knowledge, social adjustive, social identity). Function matching.
• 4. Source factors Cognitive dissonance (Festinger), Credibility. Social attractiveness. Authority. Self-fulfilling prophecy. Halo effect. Confirmation bias.
• 5. Individual and Group exam #1
• 6. Message factors. Receivers factors Fear appeal. Subliminal advertising. Emotion and cognition. Storytelling. Priming. Touch transference. Sensation transference. Framing. Innoculation theory. Narrative approach.
• 7. Six universal principles of persuasion I. Reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof. Contrast effect. Heuristics. Door-in-the-face-technique. Foot-in-the-door-technique. Low-balling.
• 8. Six universal principles of persuasion II. Liking, scarcity, authority. Milgram study, Zimbardo study. Psychological reactance theory (Brehm)
• 9. Decision-making. Empathy Fixed-action patterns. Heuristics. Choices, choices, choices. Empathy. Questioning.
• 10. Persuasion and society Political persuasion and communication. Neuromarketing.
• 11. Individual and group exam #2
• 12. Presentations - 1st half of the class
• 13. Presentations – 2nd half of the class

Literature

• Pratkanis, A. R., & Aronson, E. (2001). Age of Propaganda : The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion. New York: W. H. Freeman / Owl Books.
• Levitt, S. D., & Dubner, S. J. (2005). Freakonomics: A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything. New York: HarperCollins.
• Gladwell, M. (2007). Mžik. Praha: Dokořán.
• Dolinski, D., Nawrat, M., & Rudak, I. (2001). Dialogue Involvement as a Social Influence Technique. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 27, 1395-1406.
• Perloff, R. M. (2008). The Dynamics of Persuasion. New York: Taylor & Francis Group.
• Festinger, L., Riecken, H. W., & Schachter, S. (1956). When Prophecy Fails. New York: Harper & Row.
• Wosinska, W., Cialdini, R. B., Barrett, D. W., & Reykowski, J. (2001). The Practice od Social Influence in Multiple Cultures. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink : the power of thinking without thinking. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
• Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1986). The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. V L. Berkowitz, Advances in experimental social psychology (Sv. 19, stránky 123-205). New York: Academic Press.
• Gladwell, M. (2007). Bod zlomu. Praha: Dokořán.
• Cialdini, R. B. (2009). Influence: science and practice. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
• Gladwell, M. (2000). The Tipping Point : How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
• Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., & Akert, R. M. (2005). Social Psychology. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
• Crano, W. D., & Prislin, R. (2008). Attitudes and Attitude Change. New York: Psychology Press.
• Cialdini, R. B., Wosinska, W., Barrett, D. W., Butner, J., & Gornik-Durose, M. (1999). Compliance with a request in two cultures: The Differential Influence of Social Proof and Commitment/Consistency on Collectivists and Individualists. Personality and S

Teaching methods

The class consists of lecture and seminar. The seminar is focused on the practical applications of social-psychological phenomena. Students also participate in the interactive activities where they can observe these phenomena.

Assessment methods

All students are required to pass all exams and assignments. All requirements are evaluated as Pass/Fail. You are required to acquire minimum 60% of points from graded assignments and 70% of points from individual and group exam combined. Failed exam or assignment result in the end-of-semester oral exam.
1) Assignment #1
2) Individual and group exam #1
4) Assignment #2
5) Individual and group exam #2
7) Final presentation
8) Attendance
Assignments
Students will receive 3 questions at the end of the class. They are required to answer the questions and send the answers back to instructor’s email within next 48 hours. The question will be aimed at applications of the key concepts and theories discussed in the class. Each answer should have 80 – 150 words.
Individual and group exams
Students are required to answer the questions in multiple choice exams. There might be some exceptions in the type of the answer.
After the individual exam, students will create small groups and work on the group exam. This will provide an excellent experience of cooperation and collective responsibility for knowledge.
Presentation „Spread your passion“
Each student will create a presentation for 3 – 6 minutes. It’s very easy! Simply, tell us anything you are passionate about. Spread the ideas and thoughts that are worth of spreading. The only content requirement is that your presentation has to „give“ us something: teach us, make us laugh, make us think! Pick ANYTHING that YOU are REALLY passionate about. (To illustrate truly broad variety of possible topics: The effect of The Simpsons on perception of American culture. How to buy the best ham. My dad. Application of cognitive dissonance in international negotiations. History of baseball bat. Abortions – Yes or no? Marihuana legalization. etc.)
Attendance
Student is required to attend minimum 60 % of classes. You are also expected to be active, to contribute to discusion, to provide opinions and ideas, to agree, or to disagree. You should look happy to attend the class. Sleeping, distracting other students or focus on the other activities will result in points deduction.

Language of instruction

Czech

Further Comments

Study Materials
The course is taught each semester.

• Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2010, recent)
  
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