Influencing the Others’ Minds: an Experimental Evaluation of the Use and Efficacy of Fallacious-reducible Arguments in Web and Mobile Technologies

The research in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) has nowadays extended its attention to the study of persuasive technologies. Following this line of research, in this paper we focus on websites and mobile applications in the e-commerce domain. In particular, we take them as an evident example of persuasive technologies. Starting from the hypothesis that there is a strong connection between logical fallacies, i.e., forms of reasoning which are logically invalid but psychologically persuasive, and some common persuasion strategies adopted within these technological artifacts, we carried out a survey on a sample of 175 websites and 101 mobile applications. This survey was aimed at empirically evaluating the significance of this connection by detecting the use of persuasion techniques, based on logical fallacies, in existing websites and mobile apps. In addition, with the goal of assessing the effectiveness of different fallacy-based persuasion techniques, we performed an empirical evaluation where participants interacted with a persuasive (fallacy-based) and with a non-persuasive version of an e-commerce website. Our results show that fallacy-based persuasion strategies are extensively used in existing digital artifacts, and that they are actually effective in influencing users’ behavior, with strategies based on visual salience manipulation (accent fallacy) being both the most popular and the most effective ones

On the Impact of Fallacy-based Schemata and Framing Techniques in Persuasive Technologies

Persuasive technologies can adopt several strategies to change the attitudes and behaviors of their users. In this work we present some empirical results stemming from the hypothesis - firstly formulated in [3] - that there is a strong connection between some well known cognitive biases reducible to fallacious argumentative schemata and some of the most common persuasion strategies adopted within digital technologies. In particular, we will report how both framing and fallacious-reducible mechanisms are nowadays used to design web and mobile technologies in domains ranging from e-commerce [4] and news recommendations [1] to the jihadist propaganda. We will also show how and to what extent such persuasive strategies have an impact on nudging the choices of the users in digital environments

When personalization is not an option: An in-the-wild study on persuasive news recommendation

Aiming at granting wide access to their contents, online information providers often choose not to have registered users, and therefore must give up personalization. In this paper, we focus on the case of non-personalized news recommender systems, and explore persuasive techniques that can, nonetheless, be used to enhance recommendation presentation, with the aim of capturing the user’s interest on suggested items leveraging the way news is perceived. We present the results of two evaluations “in the wild”, carried out in the context of a real online magazine and based on data from 16,134 and 20,933 user sessions, respectively, where we empirically assessed the effectiveness of persuasion strategies which exploit logical fallacies and other techniques. Logical fallacies are inferential schemes known since antiquity that, even if formally invalid, appear as plausible and are therefore psychologically persuasive. In particular, our evaluations allowed us to compare three persuasive scenarios based on the Argumentum Ad Populum fallacy, on a modified version of the Argumentum ad Populum fallacy (Group-Ad Populum), and on no fallacy (neutral condition), respectively. Moreover, we studied the effects of the Accent Fallacy (in its visual variant), and of positive vs. negative Framing

Cognitive Biases for the Design of Persuasive Technologies: Uses, Abuses and Ethical Concerns

In the last decades Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) has started to focus attention on “persuasive technologies” having the goal of changing users’ behavior and attitudes according to a predefined direction. In this talk we show how some of the techniques employed in such technologies trigger some well known cognitive biases by adopting a strategy relying on logical fallacies (i.e. forms of reasoning which are logically invalid but psychologically persuasive). In particular, we will show how the mechanisms reducible to logical fallacies are used to design web and mobile interfaces in domains ranging from the e-commerce to the jihadist propaganda. The final part of the talk will be devoted to point out the potential ethical dangers related to the misuse of these techniques in the design of persuasive technologies

On the Cognitive Parsimony of Paralogical Arguments and their Impact in Automated Persuasion: Findings and Lessons Learned for Building Automatic Counter-Arguers

Persuasive technologies can adopt several strategies to change the attitudes and behaviors of their users. In this work I synthesize the lessons learned from three empirical case studies on automated persuasion that have been carried out in the last decade in the contexts of: persuasive news recommendations, social robotics, and e-commerce, respectively. In particular, such studies have assessed, in the technological domain, the effects of nudging techniques relying on well known persuasive argumentation schemas and on framing strategies. In discussing the main findings, I will argue that the obtained persuasive effects are due to the fact that such techniques leverage on cognitive mechanisms that refer to the “system 1” types of automatic processes hypothesized in the context of the dual process theory of reasoning. As a consequence of this state of affairs, any automated persuasive systems (used for ethical purposes: e.g. suggesting good health habits) should be able to re-use these types of system 1 strategies in order to gradually take the users in an argumentation territory where system 2 processes can take place

What Do We Know About the World? Rhetorical and Argumentative Perspectives

his book consists of selected papers delivered at “First International Conference on Rhetoric in Croatia: the Days of Ivo Škarić” in May, 2012, and subsequently revised for publication. Through a variety of different routes, the papers explore the role of rhetoric and argumentation in various types of public discourse and present interdisciplinary work connecting linguists, phoneticians, philosophers, law experts and communication scientists in the common ground of rhetoric and argumentation

Identifying with Conspiracy Theorists: Uncovering Rhetorical Questions in the QAnon Movement

Inspired by Kenneth Burke’s call to understand even the most distasteful rhetorics, this project directly explores arguments imagined by contemporary conspiracy theorists within the modern QAnon movement. After careful analysis of the rhetorical questions posed within “Q drops,” this project understands conspiracy theories to be a rhetorical act that narrates a socially constructed reality in opposition to an imagined or real “other,” recognizing the narratives to be the articulation of an inquisitive and collective positionality that attempts to provide answers to difficult questions. This definition guides my empathetic reading of the conspiracy theory’s origins, but also provides critique of the act as the creation of an often harmful narrative of division. The first chapter of this project analyzes the term “conspiracy theory” from multiple disciplines, including rhetorical studies. Next, I provide a detailed literature review of the scholars who have studied Q drops before me, finding that few scholars have taken on the task of directly analyzing the rhetoric. The third chapter details the methods and methodology of my study of Q’s drops, defining more precisely how Burke’s work on identification and dialectic informs the project. From there, I explain my findings, focusing much of my analysis on questions that begin with “how” or “why,” which represent the most common kind of question Q poses. The concluding chapter initiates a conversation regarding the role of questions in composition studies–especially relating to the way instructors generate writing prompts. I suggest that instructors of First-Year Writing pay careful attention not just to teaching students how to ask questions, but also to countering the impulse to generate narratives of division by facilitating acts of rhetorical listening, a method of deliberately considering arguments made by others rather than harping on the creation of one’s own, individualized claims

Fahrenheit 9/11: A Case Study in Counternarrative

This thesis does a rhetorical analysis of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 to understand its failure to achieve its goal of a George W. Bush defeat in the 2004 election. To do this I outline a theory of counternarrative which relies on argument theory to understand the resolution of competing narratives. I begin by creating a nuanced theory of counternarrative which relies on informal logic and Ralph Johnson's dialectical tier. Then I look at the construction of Bush's official narrative from his public speeches beginning on September 20, 2001 through the invasion of Iraq. After detailing Bush's narrative I analyze the moments of argumentative clash between it and Fahrenheit 9/11. I conclude that the failure of Moore's counternarrative was inevitable due to its poor argument construction and omission of the dialectical tier

Exploring Public Speaking: 4th Edition

Instructors: The Fourth Edition includes a set of test banks which are not available to the public. For access to these resources, please contact Dr. Barbara Tucker at [email protected]. This Open Textbook for Public Speaking was first created under a Round Three ALG Textbook Transformation Grant. Since then, the book has undergone three new editions. Authors\u27 Description: 4th Edition: Changes to be added here soon. 3rd Edition: Exploring Public Speaking: The Free College Public Speaking Textbook began as the brainchild of Dr. Kris Barton, Chair of the Department of Communication at Dalton State College. It also was made possible through a generous Textbook Transformation Grant in 2015 from Affordable Learning Georgia, a highly successful program of the University System of Georgia. Dr. Barton asked me to help him author/compile the text. The goal was to provide a high-quality, usable, accessible, and low-cost textbook for the hundreds of students who take COMM 1110 at Dalton State College every year. This course is required of all degree-seeking students. We have been able to save students hundreds of thousands of dollars already with this text. Unexpectedly and happily, the text has also been downloaded close to 14,000 times (as of August 2018) all over the world and has been adopted at many other institutions. Dr. Barton and I worked on creating the textbook from July 2015 until May 2016, with the goal of going live with the text in Summer of 2016. Tragically Dr. Barton passed away in early May, a reality that still does not seem real. He has been greatly missed as a friend, colleague, father, scholar, teacher, and mentor. The launch of the book proceeded; however, due to the loss of Dr. Barton, the ancillaries were not finished. In Summer 2017 I took on a significant revision and updating which I named the Second Edition. I included in that edition information on college student success in the appendices. In January 2018, a colleague, Matthew LeHew, and I won a grant from the University System to create the ancillaries and improve the format for more accessibility. I decided to remove the “Dalton State” from the title and most examples for wider appeal. An appendix on library research retains the information for specific use of Roberts Library on our campus. Over 90% of the book is original with Dr. Barton, me, or other colleagues at Dalton State College. Some parts, specifically from Chapters 9, 10, and 15, are adapted from another open resource public speaking text whose author prefers not to be cited. This Third Edition, along with including necessary updates and being formatted with different software, includes four more appendices: one on online speaking, one on APA, one on humor and storytelling in public speaking, and one on Dalton State’s Library. I have also tried to clarify concepts, to provide “case studies” to show the rhetorical process, and include more outlines and examples. We think this book is especially useful in coverage of PowerPoint, audience responsiveness, ethics in public speaking, special occasion speeches, and structure of speeches. Three ancillaries are available: electronic “flash cards” for study, Powerpoints on the 15 main chapters, and test banks for the 15 main chapters. Thank you for downloading Exploring Public Speaking, and the co-authors and I truly wish you happy teaching and learning with it. We welcome input. If you choose to use it, let us know at [email protected]. Accessible files with optical character recognition (OCR) and auto-tagging provided by the Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation.https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/communication-textbooks/1000/thumbnail.jp