Attitudes and Values: A Further Test of the Semantic Memory Model

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Attitudes and values are fundamental to human cognition and behavior.
• Previous research by Gold and Russ suggested a hierarchical model for attitude and value storage.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the hierarchical storage model of attitudes and values.
• To examine the relationship between value and attitude processing using reaction time measures.

Main Methods:

• A choice reaction time (RT) paradigm was employed.
• Twenty-three university students evaluated stimuli including Rokeach's terminal values, their opposites, and attitude items.
• Stimuli were presented in related and unrelated pairs based on prior paper-and-pencil assessments.

Main Results:

• Items preceded by related values were responded to faster than those preceded by unrelated values.
• Positively held values showed faster RTs compared to negatively held values.
• No significant RT differences were found based on the evaluative sign matching between attitude items and values.

Conclusions:

• The findings provide evidence supporting a hierarchical model for the cognitive storage of attitudes and values.
• Reaction time differences suggest a structured organization where related attitudes and values are more readily accessed.
• The study highlights the interplay between value endorsement and processing speed in cognitive tasks.