ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the learning, perception, and utility models. It describes three important versions of consistency theory. The book explains that there is probably no other critique so all-encompassing and so devastating as the paper by Natalia P. Chapanis and A. Chapanis. It argues that in response to the alternative explanations advanced by the Chapanises is that there is no empirical reason to prefer these explanations to one based on dissonance theory. The book presents a brief overview of the application of a strict learning approach to attitude change. It also presents the functional theory of H. C. Kelman. It explores the uncertainty model originated by B. L. Koslin. The book looks at much more field research, the testing and application of attitude theory in socially important contexts as well as in the laboratory.
