Deck 4: Choices and Actions: The Self in Control

Question 1

Only the deliberate system helps in the pursuit of goals.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Self-regulation enables people to adapt themselves to different circumstances.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

While setting goals, people tend to be quite accurate about their own capabilities.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

William James, the father of American psychology, once wrote the following: "Thinking is for doing." What did he mean by this?

A)The human brain probably developed its current cognitive abilities in large part to enable effective decision making and to facilitate behavior.
B)People typically engage in conscious thought only when engaged in a task (e.g., only when solving a puzzle, trying to construct an argument, or making a decision about something).
C)Every behavior that a person engages in implies a particular thought or set of thoughts; researchers can therefore infer thoughts from behaviors.
D)Because the primary role of thoughts is simply to plan behaviors, the proper focus of study for psychologists is behaviors themselves (and not thoughts).

Question 5

Self-determination theory suggests that people who are motivated by intrinsic factors have greater confidence than those who are motivated by extrinsic factors.

Question 6

Research suggests that belief in free will is detrimental to society.

Question 7

Research suggests that suicide rates are often lowest in favorable circumstances.

Question 8

Joe has an important Spanish exam next week. Would it help him if he visualizes himself acing the exam? What about if he visualizes himself studying really hard for the exam?

A)Neither of these things will help him.
B)Both of these things will help him about equally.
C)Both of these things will help him-but visualizing himself acing the exam (the true end goal)will help more than visualizing himself studying really hard.
D)Both of these things will help him-but visualizing himself studying really hard (which will likely lead to him actually studying harder)will help more than visualizing himself acing the exam.

Question 9

When entity theorists encounter failure, they are more likely than incremental theorists to experience learned helplessness.

Question 10

Pursuing goals involves at least two major steps, both of which involve the same mental state.

Question 11

Research on decision making indicates that people tend to place more weight on possible gains than on possible losses when considering the pros and cons of a particular choice.

Question 12

People would make better decisions if they focused more on the quantitative aspects than the qualitative aspects of the decision.

Question 13

Reactance theory and self-determination theory both suggest that a sense of freedom and autonomy is important to people.

Question 14

Habits first occur within the automatic system and are then transferred to the deliberate system.

Question 15

If Allison believes that intelligence is something that you are "just born with," then it would be correct to say that she is an entity theorist.

Question 16

Research on decision making indicates that there are two main steps in making choices. They are ____.

A)choosing one final option from a wide range of options and then analyzing the thinking behind the choice made
B)whittling the full range of choices down to a limited few and then carefully considering each option
C)making a preliminary choice and then reviewing your choice to be certain that you are satisfied with it
D)establishing your priorities and then identifying the choice that best complements your priorities

Question 17

MOST research focuses on the ____ step of decision making, which involves ____.

A)first; whittling a full range of choices down to a limited few
B)first; carefully considering a few major options
C)second; whittling a full range of choices down to a limited few
D)second; carefully considering a few major options

Question 18

The more committed a person is to his or her current goal, the more effectively the mind shields the goal by blocking thoughts of other goals.

Question 19

Research suggests that when athletes who prepare for an important game visualize themselves training really hard for the game, they ____; when they visualize themselves actually winning the game, they ____.

A)tend to train less than usual and thus perform worse; in fact perform better
B)tend to train less than usual and thus perform worse; also tend to perform worse
C)tend to train harder than usual and thus perform better; in fact tend to perform worse
D)tend to train harder than usual and thus perform better; also tend to perform a little better

Question 20

The "E" in the acronym TOTE stands for Evaluate

Question 21

According to ____, when it comes to dating members of the opposite sex and mating with them, men will take advantage of every opportunity to pass along their genes.

A)error management theory
B)the certainty effect
C)reactance theory
D)the status quo bias

Question 22

Participants in a study about decision making considered two different ways of resolving a dispute with a neighbor. In one solution, the participant received $600, and the neighbor received $800. In the other solution, the participant and the neighbor each got $500. When participants compared the two possible solutions, which option did they prefer?

A)They preferred the option that gave them $600 and the neighbor $800.
B)They preferred the option that gave the neighbor and themselves $500 each.
C)There was no difference in the frequency with which each option was chosen.
D)The majority of participants turned down both options.

Question 23

In decision making, the tendency for people to place greater weight on the present than the future is known as ____.

A)the certainty effect
B)temporal discounting
C)reactance
D)risk aversion

Question 24

Research suggests that an attractive woman can induce a man to spend much of his money right away, even at considerable cost to his future financial circumstances. This best illustrates _____.

A)reactance
B)temporal discounting
C)the omission bias
D)the status quo bias

Question 25

Margaret has to choose between two apartments. One apartment is bright and airy but is also more expensive. The other is neither bright nor airy but is much cheaper than the other apartment. Which apartment should Margaret choose and why?

A)She should choose the more expensive apartment because quantitative differences are more important than qualitative differences.
B)She should choose the cheaper apartment because it will make her happier in the long run.
C)She should choose the more expensive apartment because it will make her happier in the long run.
D)She should choose the cheaper apartment because quantitative differences are more important than qualitative differences.

Question 26

Risk aversion is the tendency to place greater weight on possible losses than on  ____.

A)possible gains
B)past gains
C)possible negative outcomes
D)definite outcomes

Question 27

Recent research has demonstrated that men and women perceive certain behaviors differently: Men are more likely than women to assume that an innocent smile is a sign of flirtation, while women are more likely than men to assume that blatant flirtation is merely a sign of friendliness. These research findings are MOST consistent with ____.

A)error management theory
B)self-determination theory
C)reactance theory
D)action identification theory

Question 28

When making decisions that require tradeoffs, MOST people show a tendency to give more weight to ____.

A)possible losses than to possible gains
B)possible gains than to possible losses
C)possible losses than to certain gains
D)probable outcomes rather than certain outcomes

Question 29

Assume that you have to choose between two apartments. You can afford both of them, and they are both adequate for your needs. Which feature should you pay the MOST attention to if you want to maximize your satisfaction with the apartment a year after you have moved in?

A)Rent: you should choose the cheapest apartment.
B)Neighborhood quality: you should choose the most pleasant neighborhood with lots of things to do.
C)Square footage: you should choose the biggest apartment.
D)Both rent and square footage should affect your decision equally and more so than neighborhood quality.

Question 30

When purchasing a car, people end up paying a bit more attention than intended to choices such as color and engine size, and a bit less attention than intended on information such as the chances of fatalities should there be an accident with the car. This pattern can be taken as evidence for ____.

A)the status quo bias
B)the certainty effect
C)risk aversion
D)the Zeigarnik effect

Question 31

A father is planning to give some extra pocket money to his 12-year-old son. He asks his son if he would like the amount right now or if he would rather wait for a week, which is around the time his school is organizing a picnic. The son chooses to take the allowance right away rather than wait for a whole week. This scenario is an example of _____.

A)the capacity to delay gratification
B)error management theory
C)the omission bias
D)temporal discounting

Question 32

What is temporal discounting?

A)The tendency for people to forget about the time that would be required to achieve things when setting goals
B)The tendency for people to place greater weight on the present than the future while making decisions
C)The tendency for plans to be overly optimistic because the planner does not make allowances for unexpected events
D)The tendency for people to ignore past or historical events when making decisions

Question 33

People tend to say that they would prefer to have $1000 today rather than $1200 two weeks from now-even though, logically, they would be better off with the $1200 in two weeks. The phenomenon underlying this tendency is known as ____.

A)risk aversion
B)the certainty effect
C)temporal discounting
D)the status quo bias

Question 34

When it comes to dating members of the opposite sex and mating with them, error management theory suggests that men will be more prone to ____ than women.

A)the omission bias
B)the status quo bias
C)temporal discounting
D)risk aversion

Question 35

Suppose that Sergej has just asked Georgia whether she would like to study with him for an upcoming English exam. Georgia is struggling in the class, and she knows that Sergej is an excellent English student. She therefore enthusiastically agrees and says that she is excited to study with him. According to error management theory, it is likely that Sergej will view Georgia's enthusiasm as a sign that ____.

A)she has a crush on him
B)she values his intelligence
C)she is using him to score well on the exam
D)she is probably being insincere

Question 36

The tendency to place a lot of emphasis on definite outcomes is called _____.

A)the certainty effect
B)temporal discounting
C)risk aversion
D)the status quo bias

Question 37

The certainty effect in decision making refers to the tendency for people to give greater weight to ____ than to ____.

A)definite outcomes; probabilities
B)possible positive outcomes; possible negative outcomes
C)immediate (soon-to-happen)outcomes; future (far off)outcomes
D)rare outcomes; common outcomes

Question 38

Suppose that Sergej has just asked Georgia whether she would like to study with him for an upcoming English exam. Georgia is struggling in the class, and she knows that Sergej is an excellent English student, and therefore she enthusiastically agrees. Meanwhile, Sergej interprets Georgia's enthusiasm as a sign that she might have a crush on him. He suggests that the two of them grab a bite to eat together before studying. Georgia is very attractive," he says to himself, "so why not?" Georgia, on the other hand, is completely clueless about Sergej's thoughts and says to herself, "Well, that is so nice of him to think that I might be hungry; what a thoughtful study partner!" The fact that Sergej and Georgia interpret things so differently in this scenario is MOST consistent with ____.

A)error management theory
B)the omission bias
C)reactance theory
D)the status quo bias

Question 39

Participants in a study on decision making were asked to rate a particular financial solution for solving a dispute with a neighbor. Half of the participants rated the favorability of a solution in which they would receive $600 and their neighbor would receive $800; the other half of the participants rated a solution in which each party received $500. Which option was the MOST favorably rated?

A)The option that paid the participants $600 and their neighbors $800 was the most favorably rated.
B)The option that paid both the participants and their neighbors $500 was the most favorably rated.
C)The option that paid the participants $600 and their neighbors $800 received the highest percentage of "highly favorable" ratings but also received the highest percentage of "highly unfavorable" ratings.
D)There was no difference between the favorability ratings for the two options.

Question 40

Even though Ellen does not urgently require boots, she says that she would rather buy a pair of boots today (for $200)rather than to wait two weeks, when they will be on sale for half the price. Ellen's decision MOST likely involves ____.

A)temporal discounting
B)risk aversion
C)the status quo bias
D)the omission bias

Question 41

Which term refers to the tendency to take whatever course of action that does not require you to do anything (also called the default option)?

A)The omission bias
B)The status quo bias
C)The certainty effect
D)Risk aversion

Question 42

An old advertisement for Dove ice cream bars touted the bars as "sinfully" delicious-so delicious that they should be banned or forbidden. The advertisement, which sought to make the bars seem as attractive to people as possible, was apparently playing on the concept of ____.

A)reactance
B)the status quo bias
C)the certainty effect
D)risk aversion

Question 43

The term ____ refers to the idea that people are distressed by a loss of freedom or options and that they will seek to reclaim or reassert them.

A)temporal discounting
B)reactance
C)certainty effect
D)status quo bias

Question 44

The status quo bias is different from the omission bias in that the former is about making decisions that ____, while the latter is about making decisions that ____.

A)keep things the same; require no effort
B)keep things the same; avoid risks
C)are similar to other people's decisions; require little effort
D)are similar to other people's decisions; avoid risks

Question 45

Ursula believes that traits and abilities as fixed at birth and remain the same no matter what. By contrast, Yuri believes that people develop their traits and abilities across time, and that they can become better and better with practice. Social psychologists would say that Ursula is a(n)____ while Yuri is a(n)____.

A)collectivist; individualist
B)individualist; collectivist
C)incremental theorist; entity theorist
D)entity theorist; incremental theorist

Question 46

Suppose that you went out on two dates with someone from one of your classes. You were not crazy about the person, but you did not dislike the person either. You thought that you would just wait and see how things turned out. Surprisingly, however, the person sent you an e-mail after your second date and wrote: "I just don't think we have good chemistry, but it was nice meeting you! Sayonara!" All of a sudden, the person becomes much more attractive to you. You wonder what you did wrong, and you strategize about how to get another chance. You are MOST likely experiencing ____.

A)temporal discounting
B)reactance
C)the certainty effect
D)the omission bias

Question 47

In social psychology, people who regard traits and abilities as fixed and stable are known as ____, while people who believe that it is possible to change and improve traits and abilities are known as ____.

A)entity theorists; incremental theorists
B)incremental theorists; entity theorists
C)individualists; collectivists
D)collectivists; individualists

Question 48

Research on entity and incremental theorists has shown that these two groups of people tend to make different kinds of attributions for other people's behaviors. Specifically, compared to entity theorists, incremental theorists tend to make more ____, thereby suggesting that others' behaviors are the result of ____.

A)internal attributions; their circumstances
B)internal attributions; their personalities
C)external attributions; their circumstances
D)external attributions; their personalities

Question 49

The status quo bias in decision making refers to the tendency for people to ____.

A)keep things the way they are instead of changing them
B)do whatever it is that other people are doing
C)place more emphasis on immediate outcomes than on future outcomes
D)place more emphasis on definite outcomes than on probable outcomes

Question 50

Even though Mildred knows that her relationship with her boyfriend is in trouble, she decides not to do anything about it (i.e., she will simply let the relationship fall to pieces). Social psychologists would say that her decision to do nothing reflects ____.

A)the certainty effect
B)the omission bias
C)reactance theory
D)temporal discounting

Question 51

Movies with "R" ratings tend to be more appealing to children and teenagers than similar movies with "G" or "PG" ratings. This finding best illustrates ____.

A)error management theory
B)the status quo bias
C)reactance theory
D)the omission bias

Question 52

The status quo bias is one form of ____ in decision-making.

A)monitoring
B)reactance
C)avoidance
D)temporal discounting

Question 53

Much of the time, people are interested in keeping their options open rather than making restrictive, final decisions. Two forms of decision avoidance that help people postpone decisions are ____.

A)the status quo bias and the certainty effect
B)the omission bias and the certainty effect
C)temporal discounting and the certainty effect
D)the status quo bias and the omission bias

Question 54

Compared to incremental theorists, entity theorists show a ____.

A)stronger preference for doing things at which they are good
B)greater interest in receiving feedback from others (regardless of whether it is positive or negative)
C)greater interest in practicing things that they are not good at
D)tendency to prefer hard, challenging tasks to easy tasks

Question 55

Rachel has taken French for years and is very good at it. Nonetheless, she just enrolled in Intermediate French (which will be easy for her)rather than Advanced French (which will be challenging but not impossible). It is probably safe to assume that Rachel ____.

A)is an incremental theorist
B)is an entity theorist
C)is focused on low levels of meaning in identifying this action
D)is focused on high levels of meaning in identifying this action

Question 56

Aimee is moving to a new state and has looked at numerous houses. She is avoiding making a decision on which house to purchase because she thinks that once she chooses, she may find a better house that she would like even more. Which of the following best explains Aimee's decision avoidance?

A)Anticipated regret
B)The certainty effect
C)Reactance
D)Temporal discounting

Question 57

Some studies suggest that when parents are extremely strict, their children become especially tempted to engage in forbidden behaviors. For example, when parents forbid their teenagers from going to parties, the teens report being even more attracted to parties and even more interested in attending them. These findings are MOST consistent with ____.

A)risk aversion
B)error management theory
C)reactance theory
D)temporal discounting

Question 58

Research on entity and incremental theorists has shown that, compared to Japanese athletes, American athletes are more likely to be ____ theorists and are thus more likely to view their athletic skills as ____.

A)incremental; inborn and fixed
B)incremental; flexible and changeable
C)entity; inborn and fixed
D)entity; flexible and changeable

Question 59

One of the common consequences of reactance is ____.

A)looking to the social environment for approval
B)wanting the forbidden option less than before
C)acting aggressively toward the person who restricted your freedom
D)carefully reassessing all of your options

Question 60

Which themes best explain decision avoidance?

A)The idea that some choices are too difficult and the idea of temporal discounting
B)The idea of anticipated regret and the idea of certainty bias
C)The idea that some choices are too difficult and the idea of anticipated regret
D)The idea of temporal discounting and the idea of certainty bias

Question 61

Four-year-old Astrid does not like to get dressed early in the morning to go to day care. So rather than simply telling her to put on the clothes he laid out the night before, her father has begun to lay out several outfits. In the morning, he asks her which outfit she wants to wear for the day. Astrid's father is making use of the idea of ____.

A)the status quo bias
B)the omission bias
C)reactance
D)dissonance

Question 62

The tendency to give more weight to possible losses than to possible gains when making decisions that require tradeoffs is known as ____.

A)the certainty effect
B)temporal discounting
C)risk aversion
D)the status quo bias

Question 63

Nikos has the opportunity to start his own business doing what he loves. However, in order to do this, he would have to liquidate all of his resources. He would even have to sell his home and use all his savings. He finally decides that he has too much to lose and sticks with his current job, which is less fulfilling but offers a guaranteed fixed income. Nikos is making his decision based on ____.

A)temporal discounting
B)error management theory
C)learned helplessness
D)risk aversion

Question 64

Maureen thinks that her abilities are fluid and capable of changing and developing over time. She decides to try to learn gardening. Her first year of planting is a complete failure-nearly every plant dies. She only harvests a few tomatoes. Given this information about Maureen, what can you predict about her interest in gardening?

A)She will try again the next year and plan to learn from her mistakes.
B)She will gradually experience learned helplessness and lose interest in gardening.
C)She will be risk averse and not want to engage in gardening next year.
D)She will plant only tomatoes because she was successful with tomato plants this year.

Question 65

Failure will MOST likely produce learned helplessness for ____.

A)entity theorists
B)incremental theorists
C)people engaged in self-regulation
D)people who have a high capacity for delaying gratification

Question 66

Jonah is in his psychology class and has just gotten his third exam score back. It's an "F" again! He has not passed one single exam this semester. He decides to quit studying for the class since it has not seemed to help much. Jonah is exhibiting ____.

A)reactance
B)temporal discounting
C)the certainty effect
D)learned helplessness

Question 67

One characteristic of being an incremental theorist rather than an entity theorist is that you are more likely to ____.

A)believe that you are good at everything
B)persist in the face of challenges and setbacks
C)believe that you are better at things than other people
D)achieve immediate success at tasks when you choose to try them

Question 68

Research findings suggest that people become less prosocial when induced to reject their belief in free will. These findings can best be interpreted as indicating that ____.

A)free will really does exist
B)absolute free will does exist, but relative free will does not
C)relative free will does exist, but absolute free will does not
D)the belief in free will has an effect on whether or not people behave in a prosocial manner

Question 69

When experimental manipulations induced people to reject their belief in free will, they tend to ____.

A)behave in a prosocial manner
B)become more cooperative and helpful
C)behave as if they are mentally ill
D)be more willing to cheat on a test and steal money

Question 70

Which of the following statements about free will is true?

A)Absolute free will is an important feature of social behavior.
B)Relative free will is an important feature of social behavior.
C)Greater free will is marked by automatic processes.
D)Greater free will is marked by low self-regulation.

Question 71

The idea that at least some of our activities must be motivated by inner drives and choices, rather than by external factors, reflects ____.

A)error management theory
B)self-determination theory
C)action identification theory
D)the status quo bias

Question 72

____ occurs when people think that they will fail and therefore quit trying to succeed.

A)Temporal discounting
B)Error management
C)Learned helplessness
D)Goal shielding

Question 73

Do most psychologists today believe that people have free will?

A)Yes.
B)No.
C)Psychologists are currently divided on the issue.
D)In the past, most psychologists believed that people had free will. At present, however, virtually all psychologists agree that people do not truly have free will.

Question 74

Michael has to choose an online course to improve his skills. After much deliberation, he chooses a course on marketing. After a few weeks, Michael feels that he does not enjoy the course and wishes he had picked another course. Although he still has the option to select another course, Michael decides to stick to the marketing course. This scenario is an example of ____.

A)temporal discounting
B)the status quo bias
C)error management theory
D)the certainty effect

Question 75

Self-determination theory states that people have an innate need to ____.

A)set life goals
B)achieve their goals
C)feel that they are better than other people
D)feel at least some degree of autonomy and internal motivation

Question 76

Among humans, greater freedom is associated with ____.

A)limited decision making
B)greater behavioral flexibility
C)automatic processes
D)lower self-regulation

Question 77

The experience of learned helplessness is ____.

A)more likely to occur to an entity theorist than to an incremental theorist
B)more likely to occur to an incremental theorist than to an entity theorist
C)pleasant for an entity theorist, but unpleasant for an incremental theorist
D)unpleasant for an entity theorist, but pleasant for an incremental theorist

Question 78

When humans rely on meaning to make choices, they are able to look at meaning ____.

A)with clarity, leading to one decision path
B)as multiple means of understanding a situation
C)in purely contractual terms
D)based purely on moral principles

Question 79

Adam and his friend, Rachel, are having dinner at a restaurant. After finishing their meal, Adam tells Rachel that the waitress serving them was flirting with him all evening. Rachel disagrees with him and says that she was just being friendly. The difference in interpretation between Rachel and Adam can best be attributed to ____.

A)error management theory
B)the omission bias
C)the status quo bias
D)self-determination theory

Question 80

Rosa is in the process of buying a television at an electronics store. She is overwhelmed by the number of options and is finding it difficult to pick one. While making her decision, what is Rosa's MOST likely first step?

A)Choosing a television immediately and rationalizing her decision
B)Discarding most of the available options so that she is left with just a select few
C)Carefully analyzing each option that is available in the store
D)Asking the sales person to choose a television for her