Elliot Aronson and J

question 29

Multiple Choice

Elliot Aronson and J.Merrill Carlsmith (1963) designed experiments to measure cognitive dissonance in preschoolers.The researchers presented the children with an attractive toy and then threatened them with either mild punishment or severe punishment if they played with the toy.Their results suggest that

• A) preschoolers are too young to experience cognitive dissonance.
• B) the children in the severe punishment condition found the toy less attractive than the children in the mild punishment condition.
• C) the children did not differ in their attraction to the forbidden toy.
• D) cognitive dissonance theory is useless to shape children's attitudes and behaviours.
• E) the children in the mild punishment condition found the toy less attractive than the children in the severe punishment condition.