Mental attitudes in debate

Abstract

Discusses states of mind of a speaker during the presentation of a debate before an audience. These mental attitudes dominate the speaker and the situation, and are the way speakers make themselves feel to give force and arousing power to their words. Mental attitudes are divided into 3 forms: Intellect, affection and will. Intellectual processes include statements of facts, thought, consideration and reflection, and combinations of these 3. Affection includes pleasant or unpleasant feelings, and favorable or unfavorable attitudes toward the topic of debate. The audience tends to perceive and reproduce the speaker's feeling toward the subject. Finally, will entails choice. A debate aims at persuading audience decision, to reform their consideration toward the subject, and to guide and prejudice reflection in such a way that it is not drawn by later opposite interpretations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)