Cognitive dissonance plays a huge role in the film. There are many cases of cognitive dissonance worth mentioning. The first occurrence of cognitive dissonance is the flashback between Truman and Sylvia, Truman's first love. Sylvia was an extra on the show and was not allowed to speak to Truman. Sylvia hadn't planned it, but in the face of Truman's incessant demands, Sylvia relented. Although Sylvia was still fulfilling her role as an actress, she felt uneasy about having lied to Truman her entire life. In the end, Sylvia tried to tell Truman that his life was a complete farce and denounce the show. This is an example of cognitive dissonance because Sylvia's attitudes and behavior were at odds with each other. Sylvia cared about Truman and hated what he was going through on the show. Still, she remained an actress on the show for years and it wasn't until she was removed from the show that she attempted to get the show canceled. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Another instance in which attitudes contradicted each other was near the end of the series when Christof attempted to capture Truman and bring him back to the series. When Christof had asked the crew to create powerful waves that would capsize and potentially harm Truman. While many were afraid to disobey Christof and obeyed his orders without hesitation, others did not want to harm Truman. There were two rival attitudes between which some members of the crew had to choose. Eventually, the crew objected to Christof's command. This scene is reminiscent of the studies of Stanley Milgram. Even though they didn't think what we were doing was moral, they felt they had no choice but to go against Christof's authority. Classical conditioning is another theme of the film. Truman's aversion to water is the result of strong classical conditioning. Although classical conditioning requires many trials for the stimulus to be truly conditioned, the "death" of Truman's father was a powerful stimulus to associate with water. The death of Truman's father was a device used by Christof to inhibit any desire Truman might have to leave Seahaven. Truman's water phobia manifests itself when one of his colleagues asks him to close a deal located on the continent. Truman had attempted to surrender, but after seeing a sunken boat, he quickly returned home. His fear is so strong that he is not able to drive on a bridge over water. Since his father returned to the show, the water phobia has ceased to exist. This example, while not entirely accurate, highlights the power of classical conditioning. Water was always a neutral stimulus for Truman. It was only when his father "drowned" in a violent sea storm that Truman associated water with the feeling of aversion he felt when his father died. Generalization is seen when Truman has a conditioned response to any type of moving water, whether it is a lake, an ocean, etc. We see extinction when Truman drove his sailboat out to sea in an attempt to escape Seahaven. Because he knew his father was indeed alive, he no longer had an adverse reaction to water. Finally, we see persuasion at different points in the film. Since the show airs 24/7, there are no placements for commercials to advertise their products or services. Therefore, many times.