SETON HALL UNIVERSITY: PERSUASION

Assigned Reading Roster & Theoretical Syllabus

Instructor: Professor Rob Redding

Reading 1: Claim, Data, Warrant & Toulmin Logic

• Theme: Argument Deconstruction & Disinformation

• Resource: Weeding Out Disinformation (Psychology Today)

• Core Concepts: Stephen Toulmin’s Model of Argumentation (Claim, Data, Warrant), Informational Crisis Management, Deconstructing Deceptive Media Claims.

• Analytical Overview: Examines how disingenuous political and media claims rely on flawed or unstated warrants to connect empirical data to false conclusions. Students learn to map media statements onto Toulmin's structure to isolate logical leaps and propaganda tactics.

Reading 2: Why Study Persuasion?

• Theme: Practical & Interpersonal Rhetoric

• Resource: The Art of Persuasion (Psychology Today)

• Core Concepts: Interpersonal Influence, Behavioral Tactics, Verbal Framing, Psychological Consistency.

• Analytical Overview: Explores the fundamental mechanics of behavioral influence and verbal framing, demonstrating how small rhetorical adjustments drastically alter audience receptivity and public engagement.

Readings 3: Persuasion Models & Information Processing

• Theme: Cognitive Dual-Process & Unimodel Theories

• Resources:

  1. Elaboration Likelihood Model — ELM (Simply Psychology)

  2. Heuristic-Systematic Model & Source Credibility (Communication Cache PDF)

  3. Persuasion by a Single Route: Unimodel Approach (Uni-Münster PDF)

• Core Concepts: Elaboration Likelihood Model (Central vs. Peripheral Routes), Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM), The Unimodel Alternative, Source Credibility Bias.

• Analytical Overview: Evaluates how cognitive bandwidth and motivation determine how audiences process messaging. Contrasts classical dual-process frameworks (Petty & Cacioppo; Chaiken) with Kruglanski’s unified single-route processing model.

Reading 4: Attitude & Behavior

• Theme: Behavioral Prediction & Attitude Consistency

• Resource: Attitude-Behavior Consistency (Psychology Research Network)

• Core Concepts: Theory of Planned Behavior, Attitude Accessibility, Situational Constraints, Behavioral Prediction.

• Analytical Overview: Investigates the friction between internal cognitive attitudes and external action, teaching students to evaluate mediating variables when constructing persuasive campaigns.

Reading 5: Attitude Measurement

• Theme: Public Opinion & Psychometrics

• Resource: Public Opinion Quarterly — Crespi, 1977 (AAPOR PDF)

• Core Concepts: Survey Methodology, Polling Validity, Psychometric Scaling, Public Opinion Dynamics, Response Bias.

• Analytical Overview: A foundational methodological text examining how polling structures, survey framing, and question design measure—and frequently manipulate—public attitude.

Reading 6: Ethos, Pathos & Logos

• Theme: Classical Rhetoric & Anti-Propaganda

• Resource: Authenticity, Compassion, and Overcoming Propaganda (Psychology Today)

• Core Concepts: Aristotelian Appeals (Ethos, Pathos, Logos), Political Polarization, Media Literacy, Dehumanizing Rhetoric.

• Analytical Overview: Analyzes how uncurated Pathos (fear/anger) suppresses Logos (rational inquiry), and how establishing genuine Ethos shields audiences from polarizing media narratives.

Readings 7 & 8: Persuasibility & Cultural Influences

• Theme: Cross-Cultural Receptivity & Global Audience Analysis

• Resources:

  1. Cultural Influences and Persuasibility — Ajzen (UMass PDF)

  2. Assessing Cross-Cultural Persuasibility (University of Wollongong PDF)

• Core Concepts: Cross-Cultural Persuasion, Subjective Norms, Individualism vs. Collectivism, Cultural Persuasibility Metrics.

• Analytical Overview: Explores how cultural paradigms dictate message acceptance, showing why persuasive arguments rooted in individual autonomy fail in collective cultures, and vice versa.

Social Media Module

• Theme: Algorithmic Amplification, Networks & Echo Chambers

• Resources:

  1. NCBI PMC 6502424 — Misinformation Network Diffusion

  2. NCBI PMC 9597644 — Algorithmic Echo Chambers & Polarization

  3. NCBI PMC 9624392 — Digital Persuasion & Health Rhetoric

  4. NCBI PMC 8834897 — Social Network Architecture & Viral Influence

• Core Concepts: Filter Bubbles, Algorithmic Amplification, Social Network Architecture, Network Diffusion.

• Analytical Overview: A primary-source research suite examining how digital platform architectures shape public belief through algorithmic reinforcement and automated virality.

Marketing Module

• Theme: Consumer Psychology & Subliminal Cueing

• Resources:

  1. NCBI PMC 8226576 — Consumer Psychology & Behavioral Marketing

  2. The Subtle Power of Hidden Messages (Scientific American)

• Core Concepts: Priming Effects, Unconscious Perception, Behavioral Nudging, Choice Architecture.

• Analytical Overview: Investigates how environmental cues, choice architecture, and implicit priming manipulate consumer behavior below conscious awareness.