Acceptance of persuasion and the inhibition of counterargumentation under various distraction tasks

Abstract A discrepant communication was presented to subjects who monitored light flashes by visual, vocal, manual, or vocal-manual means. Higher rates of flashes increased acceptance of the communication and decreased counterargument production. Vocal and manual tasks were equally effective in inhibiting counterarguments and increasing acceptance, while the vocal-manual task was most effective in increasing acceptance of the counterattitudinal communication. The results suggest that the level and complexity of activity elicited by a distraction task is as important a determinant of persuasion-yielding and counterargument inhibition, as is the direct inhibition of the subvocal formation of counterarguments by distraction requiring vocal responding.