ABSTRACT
The conversion techniques of cults provide a dramatic example of persuasion by learning principles. This chapter examines a few of the basic notions of conditioning and their counterparts in attitude theory. It discusses some of the most basic explanations of how attitudes might be learned. The most basic form of learning, termed associative learning, occurs when a connection is drawn between two events in the environment. One form, classical conditioning, occurs when an initially conditioned stimulus (CS) is associated with unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that is connected inherently or by prior conditioning to unconditioned response (UCR). Several studies have been conducted that illustrate how attitudes might be acquired by classical conditioning; one of the first was by Razran. Hildum and Brown hypothesized that attitude statements could be conditioned in the same way. Vicarious classical conditioning represents a combination of classical conditioning and observational learning principles.
