Deck 1: Introducing Social Psychology

Question 1

After the 1970s social psychology was significantly influenced by

A) the study of genetics
B) cognitive psychology
C) social anthropology
D) developmental psychology

Answer 1

cognitive psychology

Question 2

A prediction about causes or about relationships between variables is a(n)

A) assumption
B) empirical speculation
C) observation
D) scientific hypothesis

Answer 2

scientific hypothesis

Question 3

One problem with defining social psychology solely in terms of the topics it studies is that

A) this does not properly differentiate it from other disciplines
B) it's too closely related to sociology
C) it covers the study of too large a range of topics
D) there is no problem; social psychology is always defined solely in terms of the topics social psychologists study

Answer 3

this does not properly differentiate it from other disciplines

Question 4

A main difference between 'general' and 'social' psychology is:

A) General psychology investigates group behaviour only, and social psychology is only interested in how individuals interact in different societies and cultures
B) Social psychology is largely concerned with face-to-face interaction between individuals or groups, whereas general psychology focuses on people's reactions to stimuli that do not have to be social
C) General psychology is largely concerned with face-to-face interaction between individuals or groups, whereas social psychology focuses on people's reactions to stimuli that do not have to be social
D) The investigative methods they use to test hypotheses and make conclusions about theories

Question 5

Social psychology deals with how people are affected by other people

A) who are physically present
B) who are imagined to be present
C) whose presence is implied
D) all of the above

Question 6

Social psychologists are scientifically innovative when they

A) construct a theory based on background knowledge, experience or observation
B) force data to 'fit' a theory
C) carefully plan a crucial experiment
D) achieve a blinding breakthrough following a long period of frustration

Question 7

A crucial aspect of the scientific method is that it

A) produces data that are logically derived
B) tests a theory by how it corresponds with fact
C) is based on a history of continuous development
D) leads to results that are published in a reputable source

Question 8

The use of the scientific method in social psychology implies that

A) an experiment is conducted in a laboratory setting
B) researchers blind themselves to intuitive approaches
C) qualitative methods are rigorously avoided and downgraded
D) research predictions are derived from theory

Question 9

Cognitive psychology's influence on social psychology is evident in the area of

A) cognitive ethology
B) sociolinguistics
C) social cognition
D) cognitive dissonance

Question 10

The choice of an appropriate investigative method is NOT determined by

A) the nature of the hypothesis under investigation
B) the gender of the participants
C) the resources available for doing the research (e.g., time, money, research participants)
D) the ethics of the method

Question 11

Social psychologists study behaviour because

A) it is more interesting than studying people's thoughts and feelings
B) they want to be more integrated with behavioural psychology
C) behaviour can be observed and measured
D) you can tell everything about a person based on their behaviour

Question 12

Replication is an important feature of the scientific method because

A) it guards against confirmation bias
B) it guards against fraud
C) it guards against the possibility that a finding is tied to the particular testing circumstances
D) all of the above

Question 13

In social psychology,a scientific hypothesis refers to

A) a statement that is drawn from prior knowledge, or which is an assumption, or which is based on observation
B) a statement that can be empirically tested
C) a prediction about causes or about relationships between variables
D) all of the above

Question 14

Social psychology is distinct from other social science disciplines because of

A) what it studies
B) how research is conducted
C) the level of explanation it uses
D) all of the above

Question 15

The main difference between social psychology and other scientific disciplines,such as physics,chemistry and biology,is

A) the former studies human social behaviour while the others study non-organic phenomena and chemical and biological processes
B) physics, chemistry and biology use the scientific method to study phenomena whereas social psychology does not
C) physics, chemistry and biology discover facts about phenomena, whereas social psychology only proves or disproves hypotheses
D) Both A and C

Question 16

Carl Popper defined a scientific hypothesis as one that can

A) be disproved but not proved
B) never be stated confidently
C) neither be proved nor disproved
D) be proved but not disproved

Question 17

As a discipline,social psychology is closely related to

A) anthropology
B) individual psychology
C) sociology
D) it intersects all of the above

Question 18

Social psychology is social because it

A) incorporates evolutionary social psychology
B) deals with how people are affected by other people
C) is a branch of general psychology
D) is based on group dynamics

Question 19

Social psychologists also focus on

A) people's feelings and thoughts
B) people's intentions and goals
C) the origins of people
D) A and B

Question 20

What distinguishes sociology from social psychology is

A) social psychology's emphasis on external validity
B) sociology's neglect of theory
C) sociology's emphasis on the group as a whole, rather than the individual
D) their relative level of objectivity

Question 21

Justin is a trained social psychologist whereas Bill majored in graphic arts.In their respective career paths,we would expect it is more likely that

A) Bill studies people in groups
B) Bill is interested in numerical trends
C) Justin uses the scientific method
D) Justin is interested in monkeys

Question 22

One way to avoid confounding results in an experiment is to

A) ensure the hypotheses are phrased as testable predictions
B) test all participants in rooms with blue walls, regardless of their condition
C) ensure all conditions are identical except for the independent variable of interest
D) only ever test a maximum of six participants at a time, to allow ease of recording data

Question 23

To test a scientific hypothesis,researchers

A) test it empirically
B) propose an imaginary outcome
C) wait until it has stood the test of time
D) construct a different hypothesis

Question 24

A confounding variable in a research design is

A) an unintended independent variable that covaries with an intended independent variable
B) dependent on using a lie detector
C) high on internal validity
D) a bonus because it is unexpected

Question 25

You are interested in the effects of visual feedback on how people respond when they meet a stranger.Half of your participants see a videotape of their own facial reactions when they meet a stranger; the other half does not see a videotape.You then ask all participants how positively they felt about their encounter with the stranger.The independent variable in your investigation is

A) the stranger
B) visual feedback
C) you as the researcher
D) none of the above; this is a correlational rather than an experimental study

Question 26

Non-experimental methods include

A) archival research, surveys and case studies
B) the repeated measures method and field experiments
C) the two-factor analysis of variance
D) both A and C

Question 27

The independent variable in an experiment refers to the variable that is

A) held constant
B) manipulated
C) out of control
D) the same for all participants

Question 28

Wanda tries to outsmart the testing instrument during a social psychology experiment.To her surprise,her 'lie' is detected.The experiment is probably

A) equipped with a lie detector
B) based on a demand characteristic
C) high on internal validity
D) low on experimental realism

Question 29

Laboratory experiments should always be high on

A) external validity
B) internal validity
C) both A and B
D) neither A nor B

Question 30

Evaluation apprehension,demand characteristics and social desirability refer to

A) responses by a participant that can bias an experimental result
B) modern fields of experimental research
C) responses that are triggered by the way a confederate behaves
D) variables that intervene between stimulus and response

Question 31

Most mainstream social psychological knowledge is derived from

A) the statistical analysis of quantitative data
B) common sense
C) research carried out prior to 1950
D) cognitive psychology

Question 32

An experimental manipulation is

A) sure to enrage radical activists
B) a form of unethical deception
C) necessary to determine a causal relationship between variables
D) what an experimenter does when a result is rigged

Question 33

Random allocation of participants to conditions is one way to reduce

A) confounding variables
B) experimenter bias
C) socially desirable responding
D) stigmatisation

Question 34

Because she is intrigued by carrying out ________,Rebecca positioned herself at some traffic lights.She then either stared or did not stare into the eyes of drivers who were waiting for a green light.She then measured whether her staring affected the speed at which they took off.

A) surveys
B) archival research
C) case studies
D) field experiments

Question 35

In social psychology,a dependent variable in an experiment

A) is a dimension that the experimenter suggests may vary by manipulating an independent variable
B) is something someone brings into an experiment
C) can be one of a wide variety of behaviours
D) both A and C

Question 36

A one-factor experimental research design can be based on

A) two levels of one independent variable
B) several levels of one independent variable
C) one level of two independent variables
D) both A and B

Question 37

t tests have been commonly employed in psychological research to

A) estimate the size of a difference between the means of two groups of scores
B) determine the correlation coefficient for the scores in each group
C) determine the significance of a difference between the means of group scores
D) prove a hypothesis

Question 38

Laboratory experiments are designed so as to

A) control for confounding variables
B) establish external validity
C) be as close as possible to a real-life experience
D) justify keeping rats and pigeons in the department

Question 39

At a broad level,research in social psychology can be said to use two types of methods

A) correlational and multivariate
B) discursive and narrative
C) quantitative and statistical
D) experimental and non-experimental

Question 40

The double-blind procedure is used in experiments to

A) reduce the experimenter's bias
B) make the results externally valid
C) reduce social desirability
D) confound everyone except the experimenter

Question 41

The term 'debriefing' refers to

A) participants being given a full explanation of what the experiment was about
B) participants being told why they cannot talk to others after the research
C) the harmful effects of the research being dissipated by offering a reward
D) the remuneration that the assistant gets paid for helping the experimenter

Question 42

Jane,who has just started studying the sciences,is absolutely convinced that the scientific method is the one way to achieve true knowledge.Jane's position is typically

A) anarchist
B) reductionist
C) post-modernist
D) positivist

Question 43

Discourse analysis

A) is a form of qualitative analysis
B) treats data as text
C) is a method used by some critics of conventional social psychology
D) all of the above

Question 44

Furnishing a general perspective on social psychology,evolutionary theory and general relativity theory can be best described as

A) general theories
B) meta-theories
C) short-range mini-theories
D) grand theories

Question 45

An interpersonal level of explanation examines

A) the interaction between individuals within a given environment
B) the influence of positional factors on social interactions
C) the psychological processes involved in an individual experience of the environment
D) the influence of social beliefs and group relations

Question 46

Which of the following describes Triplett's dynamogenic theory explaining the superior performance of cyclists in the presence of others?

A) Solitary cyclists did poorly because they worried about whether they were going fast enough, which exhausted their brain and muscles, numbing them and inhibiting motor performance
B) Friends of the cyclists usually rode as pacers and no doubt encouraged the cyclists to keep up their spirits
C) In a race, a follower might be hypnotised by the wheels of the cyclist in front and so rode automatically, leaving more energy for a later, controlled burst
D) the presence of another person racing aroused a 'competitive instinct'-the sight of movement in another suggested more speed, inspired greater effort, and released a level of nervous energy that an isolated rider could not achieve alone

Question 47

Behaviourism has been the basis for the formulation of

A) social exchange theory
B) the reinforcement-affect model and drive theory
C) social identity theory
D) both A and B

Question 48

Inspired by the early behaviourist John Watson,Floyd Allport argued that social psychology would only flourish if

A) the discipline became less reductionist
B) individual level analyses were emphasised
C) the discipline became an experimental science
D) new methods were adopted by social psychologists

Question 49

The most important ethical principles guiding human research,in descending order of importance,are

A) 1. informed consent; 2. respect for privacy; 3. use of deception
B) 1. use of deception; 2. informed consent; 3. respect for privacy
C) there is no agreed basis for ranking ethical principles
D) 1. respect for privacy; 2. informed consent; 3. debriefing

Question 50

A nineteenth-century experiment undertaken by Triplett was the forerunner to later work dealing with

A) social facilitation
B) social identity theory
C) the group mind
D) gender stereotyping

Question 51

The requirement for scientific terms to be defined so that they can be measured is termed

A) reductionism
B) positivism
C) operationalism
D) instrumentalism

Question 52

Informed consent

A) means that deception in research is no longer possible
B) only applies to studies in a laboratory
C) ensures that people are not manipulated or coerced to participate in a study
D) is not an important issue addressed in human research ethics

Question 53

More than a century ago,LeBon thought that crowds would sometimes behave badly because people were being controlled by

A) a ruthless leader
B) the proletariat
C) a group mind
D) proto-fascists

Question 54

The general idea that we are biological entities and that psychology happens in the brain has given rise to

A) evolutionary social psychology
B) social neuroscience
C) collectivist theories
D) behaviourism

Question 55

The influence of early twentieth century German Gestalt psychology on social psychology is evident in

A) cognitive theories
B) the various forms of attribution theory
C) social exchange theory
D) theories of attraction

Question 56

Kurt Lewin,often considered the 'father' of experimental social psychology,

A) observed that cyclists who were paced or in a race rode faster than when they rode alone
B) discovered the Id
C) founded a research centre for group dynamics
D) formulated the influential theory of cognitive dissonance

Question 57

For his Master's research,John is collecting evidence that emotional experiences can be explained purely by physiological factors.His approach is

A) reductionist
B) post-modern
C) evolutionary
D) positivistic

Question 58

The right to privacy,informed consent and the use of deception

A) are principles that distinguish social psychology from other social sciences
B) are principles that have recently been relaxed in conducting human research
C) have been in operation since the early beginnings of social psychology
D) are three of several ethical principles that are now well established to guide psychological research

Question 59

The idea of a social group having a mind

A) was an old explanatory notion dealing with the origins of behavioural uniformity in groups that fell into disfavour in the twentieth century
B) was thought to be a form of super-mentality which could enfold a group of people
C) was derived from the nineteenth century work of the folk psychologists
D) all of the above

Question 60

Which set of theories proposes that people behave based on socially constructed group norms that influence us in specific contexts?

A) Personality theories
B) Collectivist theories
C) Behaviourist theories
D) Evolutionary social psychological theories

Question 61

Cognition is emphasised in modern social psychology in

A) discourse analysis
B) psychodynamic theory
C) attribution theory
D) both B and C

Question 62

Because Australia and New Zealand are recent immigrant countries that strive to practise multiculturalism,what issues might be important areas of research that may be somewhat different to other countries? Issues to do with

A) ethnicity
B) culture
C) prejudice
D) all of the above

Question 63

Which of the following was NOT the basis of an early and famous experiment in social psychology?

A) Cognitive dissonance (by Festinger and Carlsmith)
B) Social identity (by Tajfel)
C) Group pressure (by Asch)
D) Norm formation (by Sherif)