PRSA APR CERTIFICATION EVALUATION
2026 FULL SOLUTIONS PASSED
⩥ Spiral of silence. Answer: (Nolle-Neumann 1974)
Attached to bandwagon effect, people keep track of the opinion climate
in media and will keep quiet if their opinion doesn't match
EX. since people don't agree with me, I'll keep my opinion to myself
⩥ Situational Theory of Publics. Answer: (James Grunig 1966)
Context influences relationships with audiences being passive or active.
People seek information when it is related to decisions that affect their
attitudes
Three factors/elements
Problem recognition
Constraint recognition
Level of involvement
EX. elected members are more likely to look at information for their
decisions than file members
⩥ social learning. Answer: (Albert Bandura)
People learn through observation and adopt opinions or behaviors that
are modeled and rewards
EX. Children see other children whine and get a toy. They replicate.
,⩥ Social exchange. Answer: Perceived costs and rewards of an action
predict group behavior
EX. I could take time off of work to go vote democrat in AL, but I lose
money doing that and my vote probably won't count
⩥ Social judgement. Answer: (Sherif and Hovland 1961)
People accept or reject messages/concepts based on their own core
beliefs
EX. I won't support same sex marriage because it doesn't support my
value and image of marriage
⩥ cognitive consistency theories. Answer: (Heider, Newcomb, Osgood,
and Festinger)
Balance symmetry theory of interpersonal action
Congruity
Cognitive dissonance
Inconsistencies between attitudes and action motivate people to change
what they think or believe by achieving consistency
EX. I always thought all black people were criminals but after seeing
Obama, my opinion may have changed.
⩥ Attribution theory. Answer: to understand or explain circumstances by
attributing cause to internal or external factors
,Attribution error also occurs
EX. The reason that the recall had to happen is because our
manufacturer made our product wrong
⩥ Identification. Answer: how people seek to identify with individuals,
groups, or causes in order to overcome separateness when they become
aware of common ground
EX. in order to increase my chances of getting hired, I brought up the
fact of how both me and the interviewer have kids.
⩥ Reasoned action. Answer: A person's attitude toward a behavior
consists of:
a belief that the behavior leads to a certain outcome
and the evaluation of that outcome
This includes the subjective norm, attitude, intent, and behavior
EX. I want to help small businesses and my friends take my restaurant
suggestions seriously. So I told them I loved a local restaurant and I was
going there for lunch, so they will probably come.
⩥ Inoculation. Answer: (William McGuire)
People are more likely to resist persuasive messages that they have been
exposed to counterarguments for. We keep opinions that we have tested
and evaluated
, EX. A person sees an ad about swifter but remembers their friend telling
them why it actually doesn't work. This message will not have much
effect do this this.
⩥ Cognitive dual processing. Answer: People use different strategies for
processing
messages or making decisions by how important the topic is
(motivation), or the individual's cognitive
capacity (time to think about the topic,
knowledge of the topic or general intelligence).
People try to use as little cognitive
energy as possible to make decisions.
Three
models illustrate cognitive dual processing:
The Elaboration Likelihood Model of
Persuasion (1979)
The Heuristic-Systematic
Model of Cognitive Processing (1980)
Motivation Determines Processing (MODE
Model, 1990).
Each model presents two paths
or roots to decision making.
2026 FULL SOLUTIONS PASSED
⩥ Spiral of silence. Answer: (Nolle-Neumann 1974)
Attached to bandwagon effect, people keep track of the opinion climate
in media and will keep quiet if their opinion doesn't match
EX. since people don't agree with me, I'll keep my opinion to myself
⩥ Situational Theory of Publics. Answer: (James Grunig 1966)
Context influences relationships with audiences being passive or active.
People seek information when it is related to decisions that affect their
attitudes
Three factors/elements
Problem recognition
Constraint recognition
Level of involvement
EX. elected members are more likely to look at information for their
decisions than file members
⩥ social learning. Answer: (Albert Bandura)
People learn through observation and adopt opinions or behaviors that
are modeled and rewards
EX. Children see other children whine and get a toy. They replicate.
,⩥ Social exchange. Answer: Perceived costs and rewards of an action
predict group behavior
EX. I could take time off of work to go vote democrat in AL, but I lose
money doing that and my vote probably won't count
⩥ Social judgement. Answer: (Sherif and Hovland 1961)
People accept or reject messages/concepts based on their own core
beliefs
EX. I won't support same sex marriage because it doesn't support my
value and image of marriage
⩥ cognitive consistency theories. Answer: (Heider, Newcomb, Osgood,
and Festinger)
Balance symmetry theory of interpersonal action
Congruity
Cognitive dissonance
Inconsistencies between attitudes and action motivate people to change
what they think or believe by achieving consistency
EX. I always thought all black people were criminals but after seeing
Obama, my opinion may have changed.
⩥ Attribution theory. Answer: to understand or explain circumstances by
attributing cause to internal or external factors
,Attribution error also occurs
EX. The reason that the recall had to happen is because our
manufacturer made our product wrong
⩥ Identification. Answer: how people seek to identify with individuals,
groups, or causes in order to overcome separateness when they become
aware of common ground
EX. in order to increase my chances of getting hired, I brought up the
fact of how both me and the interviewer have kids.
⩥ Reasoned action. Answer: A person's attitude toward a behavior
consists of:
a belief that the behavior leads to a certain outcome
and the evaluation of that outcome
This includes the subjective norm, attitude, intent, and behavior
EX. I want to help small businesses and my friends take my restaurant
suggestions seriously. So I told them I loved a local restaurant and I was
going there for lunch, so they will probably come.
⩥ Inoculation. Answer: (William McGuire)
People are more likely to resist persuasive messages that they have been
exposed to counterarguments for. We keep opinions that we have tested
and evaluated
, EX. A person sees an ad about swifter but remembers their friend telling
them why it actually doesn't work. This message will not have much
effect do this this.
⩥ Cognitive dual processing. Answer: People use different strategies for
processing
messages or making decisions by how important the topic is
(motivation), or the individual's cognitive
capacity (time to think about the topic,
knowledge of the topic or general intelligence).
People try to use as little cognitive
energy as possible to make decisions.
Three
models illustrate cognitive dual processing:
The Elaboration Likelihood Model of
Persuasion (1979)
The Heuristic-Systematic
Model of Cognitive Processing (1980)
Motivation Determines Processing (MODE
Model, 1990).
Each model presents two paths
or roots to decision making.
