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Where Cognitive Psychology and Rhetoric Meet

David W. Worley

To cite this article: David W. Worley (2005) Where Cognitive Psychology and Rhetoric Meet, ,
5:2-3, 145-148, DOI: 10.1080/15358590500297037

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Published online: 14 Dec 2010.

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Review of Communication
Vol. 5, Nos. 2 –3, April– July 2005, pp. 145–148

Where Cognitive Psychology and

Rhetoric Meet
David W. Worley

Gardner H.W. (2004). Changing minds: The art and science of changing our own and other
people’s minds. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. 244 pp. ISBN: 1578517095. $26.95
(hardback).

Gardner, most noted for his work as a cognitive psychologist and particularly
renowned for his theory of multiple intelligences, has written an important book for
the discipline of communication, even though some may mistakenly believe that this
book, like so many of his others, is focused on education. Although, as one would
expect, Gardner applies a cognitive psychological lens to his review of persuasion or
what he terms changing minds, the links between his work and the study of rhetoric,
although not explicit, are, nevertheless, implicit. Gardner notes that “rhetoric is a
principal vehicle for changing minds” that in its best form encompasses “tight logic,
draws on relevant research, and resonates with an audience” (p. 16). Throughout the
book by both precept and example Gardner reiterates the importance of linguistic
skill, credibility, and reasoning as he articulates the process for changing minds or
persuading ourselves and others. In this review, I summarize the content of the book
and then briefly discuss how this book links with rhetorical principles.

Summary of Content
Changing Minds is divided into ten chapters. In Chapters 1 through 3, Gardner
introduces “an analytic framework” (p. 213) for changing minds that he then applies
in various contexts drawing on numerous diplomatic, political, scientific, artistic,
educational, religious, and personal examples. Gardner sketches this framework and
its resulting applications in the Appendix of the book, thereby providing a helpful,
symmetrical, visual summary of the entire text. In Chapter 1 the author discusses
the contents of the mind which he summarizes as “ideas, concepts, stories, theories”

David W. Worley (Ph.D., Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, 1996) is Associate Professor in the
Department of Communication at Indiana State University. Correspondence to: Erickson Hall 314, 218 North
Sixth Street, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN 47809, USA. Email: cmworley@isugw.indstate.edu

ISSN 1535-8593 (online) q 2005 National Communication Association

DOI: 10.1080/15358590500297037
146 D. W. Worley

(p. 19). He notes that while these categories are not exhaustive, they represent the
kinds of information humans typically rely upon to make meaning of their worlds.
In this chapter, he also introduces the seven strategic factors essential for mind change.
Specifically, on pages 15– 18 he notes that reason (rationality, logic, analogies, and
taxonomies), research (“collection of relevant data”), resonance (affective response),
representational redescriptions (various ways to express an idea), resources and
rewards (a variety of desirable positive reinforcements), real-world events (external,
apparent circumstances), and resistances (personal predispositions or perspectives)
are the “tipping points” or “levers” in changing minds. Gardner is obviously taken
with the linguistic symmetry found in this alliterative scheme; so much so that he
bemoans the fact that “rhetoric” has the troublesome “h” between the “r” and “e”
thereby keeping it from being included in his series of “re” words.
In Chapter 2 Gardner turns to the forms of the mind, drawing on his prior theory of
multiple intelligences. He explains that not only must mind changers effectively
employ the seven factors, they must also be keenly aware of the variety of information
processing preferences typically found in their audiences. As the author explains,
“the more of an individual’s intelligences you can appeal to when making an

Table 1 Summary of Content for Chapters 4 –9

Context Examples

Large-scale changes involving the diverse Margaret Thatcher

population of a region or an entire nation Bill Clinton
Newt Gingrich
Pope John II
Mahatma Gandhi
Nelson Mandela
Jean Monnet
Large-scale changes involving a more uniform James O. Freedman, President of Dartmouth
or homogenous group John Chambers, Cisco Corporation
Changes brought about through works Charles Darwin
of art or science Albert Einstein
Sigmund Freud
Igor Stravinsky
Pablo Picasso
T. S. Eliot
Martha Graham
Jay Winstein
Changes within formal instructional settings New disciplinary understandings
British Petroleum executives
Intimate forms of mind changing Erik Erikson case study
Lawrence Summers and Cornel West
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams
Changing one’s own mind George W. Bush
Whittaker Chambers
Religious fundamentalism
Lucien Levy-Bruhl
 Cognitive Psychology and Rhetoric 147

argument, the more likely you are to change a person’s mind, and the more
minds you are likely to change” (p. 30). Gardner notes that his theory of
multiple intelligences not only helps explain persuasion, but that it also stands as a
prime example of his own change of mind and the resulting attempts he has made to
change the minds of others who have preferred other theoretical orientations
regarding human intelligence.
Gardner overviews the development of cognitive theory in Chapter 3 drawing on
the work of Piaget, Freud, and Vygotsky to identify the “fascinating paradox” (p. 48) of
changing minds, namely that while minds change more easily in children than adults,
the mind is, according to Gardner, equally resistant to change. In short, the author
stresses the notion that talking about changing minds is considerably easier than
actually doing so.
The remaining seven chapters of the book apply the principles introduced in
Chapters 1 and 2 to various contexts. In Table 1, I have used Gardner’s own words as
found on page 63 to describe the content of the remaining chapters and I have also
identified the extended examples on which he draws to illustrate the application of his
analytic framework. (This is, by the way, an attempt to provide another form of
content, rather than relying solely on the use of language. In short, I am using
Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences by appealing to both linguistic and spatial
intelligences.)

Links with Rhetoric

As I noted at the outset of this review Gardner’s book implicitly, although not
explicitly, elucidates long-standing rhetorical concepts. In the numerous examples in
the book, the author repeatedly notes the importance of the ability of mind changers
strategically to develop, share, and embody a message or “story” that resonates with a
given audience. In doing so, he indirectly points to familiar rhetorical devices and
principles of persuasion. Clearly, logos, ethos, and pathos are revealed in Gardner’s
seven “levers” of mind changing, as evidenced even by the seven “re” terms he
employs. Moreover, principles of narrative, audience analysis, multi-sided presenta-
tions, and refutative strategies are equally present. One can also make clear links with
the traditional canons of rhetoric (invention, arrangement, style, memory, and
delivery).

Conclusion
This book is important for our discipline on at least three fronts. First, Changing
Minds provides an interdisciplinary illustration of the power and practice of
persuasion in that it takes real-world examples that clearly illustrate persuasion in
action. Second, this book has research potential for those interested in further
investigation of the links between cognitive psychology and rhetoric. In this review,
I have only briefly sketched the initial, more obvious connections; the book awaits
additional analysis. Third, Gardner’s book is an important pedagogical resource; it can
148 D. W. Worley

assist administrators and classroom teachers who are faced daily with changing
minds and help them do so more effectively. Some may also find the book
useful as a supplementary text for the study of rhetoric and persuasion since the case
studies are compelling and instructive. In any case, Changing Minds is an important
book for our discipline and one that we would all do well to read, recommend, and
reflect upon.