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This fourth edition of The art of Persuasive Communication - A process situates contemporary persuasive practices against the background of the rich history of rhetoric and within the setting of a democratic state.The work is theoretically well-grounded and considerate of the practical dimensions of persuasion - from its broad starting points in an interpersonal setting to its manifestation as mass persuasion or propaganda in the wider political sphere. Contemporary examples, including rhetorical discourses of South African statesmen, are provided to facilitate understanding.

UNDERSTANDING RATIONAL DECISION MAKING. Audience Decision-Making Expertise -- Types of Audience Decisions -- Cognitive Processes in Audience Decision Making -- Aids to Audience Decision Making -- UNDERSTANDING INTUITIVE DECISION MAKING. Heuristics and Biases in Audience Decision Making -- Person Perception in Audience Decision Making -- UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONAL DECISION MAKING. Emotions in Audience Decision Making --

Media accounts typically employ two types of information: (a) general statements about the range or importance of a problem (base-rate information), and (b) illustrative individual cases (exemplars) that are less valid but more vivid. A review of the psychological literature on judgments leads to the general hypothesis that the perception of a problem is influenced primarily by the quality and distribution of exemplars. In a series of five experiments, the researchers varied the number and quality of exemplars and their consistency with the base-rate information for several journalistic stories. The results indicate that base-rate information had almost no impact whereas exemplars had a strong effect on the perceived distribution of public opinion about story problems. Exemplars also had a moderate impact on subjects' personal opinions about the problem. Implications for communication research and journalistic practice are discussed.

"This accessible book provides a practical discussion of the main elements of argumentation as illustrated by 30 public arguments from a recent year on a wide variety of social, cultural, and scientific topics. Arguing is an important form of communication in any society and a principal way in which ideas are exposed, discussed, and modified. The real-life examples examined in this book reflect the different considerations that go into composing arguments and the range of strategies that can be chosen as vehicles for our positions. They demonstrate the roles that emotion can play along with other modes of conveying evidence, from the use of images to the use of gestures. They show the power of threats, comparisons, and consequences. What emerges is an instructive discussion that illustrates the way we argue and that shows argument, invention, and evaluation in action. This book is a stimulating read for anyone interested in argument and public discourse and can be used as a supplemental text for courses in argumentation, persuasive communication, critical thinking, composition, and informal logic"--