(1) Senior Comprehensive Exam Arguments from Petty & Cacioppo 1986 [PDF]
(2) Need for Cognition Scale (from Cacioppo, Petty, & Kao, 1984)
For each of the statements below, please indicate whether or not the statement is characteristic of you or of what you believe. For example, if the statement is extremely uncharacteristic of you or of what you believe about yourself (not at all like you) please place a “1” on the line to the left of the statement. If the statement is extremely characteristic of you or of what you believe about yourself (very much like you) please place a “5” on the line to the left of the statement. You should use the following scale as you rate each of the statements below.
1. I prefer complex to simple problems.
2. I like to have the responsibility of handling a situation that requires a lot of thinking.
3. Thinking is not my idea of fun.**
4. I would rather do something that requires little thought than something that is sure to challenge my thinking abilities.**
5. I try to anticipate and avoid situations where there is a likely chance I will have to think in depth about something.**
6. I find satisfaction in deliberating hard and for long hours.
7. I only think as hard as I have to.**
8. I prefer to think about small daily projects to long term ones.**
9. I like tasks that require little thought once I’ve learned them.**
10. The idea of relying on thought to make my way to the top appeals to me.
11. I really enjoy a task that involves coming up with new solutions to problems.
12. Learning new ways to think doesn’t excite me very much.**
13. I prefer my life to be filled with puzzles I must solve.
14. The notion of thinking abstractly is appealing to me.
15. I would prefer a task that is intellectual, difficult, and important to one that is somewhat important but does not require much thought.
16. I feel relief rather than satisfaction after completing a task that requires a lot of mental effort.**
17. It’s enough for me that something gets the job done; I don’t care how or why it works.**
18. I usually end up deliberating about issues even when they do not affect me personally.
Note: **=reverse scored item.
(3) Need To Evaluate Scale (from Jarvis & Petty, 1996)
INSTRUCTION: For each of the statements below, please indicate whether or not the statement is characteristic of you or of what you believe. For example, if the statement is extremely uncharacteristic of you or of what you believe about yourself (not at all like you) please place a “1” on the line to the left of the statement. If the statement is extremely characteristic of you or of what you believe about yourself (very much like you) please place a “5” on the line to the left of the statement. You should use the following scale as you rate each of the statements below.
1. I form opinions about everything.
2. I prefer to avoid taking extreme positions.**
3. It is very important to me to hold strong opinions.
4. I want to know exactly what is good and bad about everything.
5. I often prefer to remain neutral about complex issues.**
6. If something does not affect me, I do not usually determine if it is good or bad.**
7. I enjoy strongly liking and disliking new things.
8. There are many things for which I do not have a preference.**
9. It bothers me to remain neutral.
10. I like to have strong opinions even when I am not personally involved.
11. I have many more opinions than the average person.
12. I would rather have a strong opinion than no opinion at all.
13. I pay a lot of attention to whether things are good or bad.
14. I only form strong opinions when I have to.**
15. I like to decide that new things are really good or really bad.
16. I am pretty much indifferent to many important issues.**
Note. ** = reverse scored item.