Question 1

Under which of the following conditions would we expect the presence of other people to have the strongest negative effect on performance?

Accepted Answer

The presence of others can increase anxiety and pressure, which negatively affects performance on complex and not well-learned tasks due to increased cognitive load and distraction.

Question 2

Sets of norms that specify how people in a particular social position are expected to behave are _.

Accepted Answer

Social roles refer to the expectations and behaviors associated with a particular social position.

Question 3

Which of the following statements regarding social norms and roles is most accurate?

Accepted Answer

Social roles are expectations for behavior in a given social position, and these roles are composed of various social norms that dictate how individuals should behave in those roles.

Question 4

During a murder trial, two expert witnesses testify as to the accuracy of the DNA statistics. The two experts have conflicting opinions. James is a juror who finds the scientific evidence hard to understand, but he finds that he is more attracted to one of the experts for the defence because she is young and reminds him of his daughter. When James is persuaded by her testimony and discounts the testimony of the other expert, he is using:

Accepted Answer

James is influenced by the expert's appearance and personal characteristics rather than the content of her testimony, which is indicative of the peripheral route to persuasion.

Question 5

A young child decides to dress more like his peers in order to avoid their rejection and teasing. This child is best demonstrating the effect of:

Accepted Answer

Normative social influence occurs when an individual conforms to the expectations of a group to be accepted or avoid rejection.

Question 6

Muzafer Sherif found that when groups of people viewed a stationary dot of light in a dark room, the people perceived the dot to move in a phenomenon called the autokinetic effect. When comparing their experiences in small groups after viewing the dot, groups came to slightly different conclusions regarding how much the dot had moved and provided some insight into how are formed.

Accepted Answer

The experiment demonstrated how social norms are formed as individuals in a group setting tend to converge their opinions to reach a common group consensus.

Question 7

Janie's basketball team has collected money to buy the coach a gift at the end of the season. Most of the girls want to get the coach a gift certificate to her favourite restaurant, but Janie and Susie want to get her tickets to the Final Four tournament that year. After a lot of discussion, Janie and Susie agree to get the gift certificate. Some of the other girls pointed out that the restaurant certificate would be better because this way the coach could take her husband and they did not have enough money to get two tournament tickets. This made Janie and Susie change their opinion about the best gift. The two girls conformed due to:

Accepted Answer

Janie and Susie changed their opinion after being presented with logical reasons and information about why the restaurant certificate was a better choice, which is an example of informational social influence.

Question 8

Asch demonstrated that a substantial percentage of participants conformed to obviously inaccurate line judgements made by several confederates. Follow-up interviews with the participants revealed that:

Accepted Answer

Asch's experiment demonstrated that both informational and normative social influence were responsible for participants conforming to the confederates' inaccurate line judgements. Participants may have relied on the group's incorrect responses due to informational social influence (believing that the group was correct) or normative social influence (desiring to fit in with the group). Follow-up interviews revealed that both factors played a role in the participants' conformity.

Question 9

Social facilitation refers to:

Accepted Answer

Social facilitation is the phenomenon where individuals perform better on simple or well-rehearsed tasks in the presence of others, due to increased arousal leading to the dominant response being more likely.

Question 10

Norman Triplett accurately predicted that bicycle racing times would be faster when individuals raced in groups. This effect is currently explained by the modern construct called _.

Accepted Answer

Social facilitation refers to the tendency for people to perform better on tasks when in the presence of others, which aligns with Triplett's observation about faster racing times in groups.

Question 11

A person who changes her personal investment strategy based on the advice of her knowledgeable financial advisor is best demonstrating the power of social influence.

Accepted Answer

The person is relying on the expertise and information provided by the financial advisor, which is an example of informational social influence.

Question 12

The fact that Japanese individuals typically sit farther apart when conversing than Americans do, and that Greeks are more likely than Europeans to touch during social interaction are best considered as examples of:

Accepted Answer

These examples illustrate social norms, which are the unwritten rules about how to behave in a particular social group or culture. Different cultures have different norms regarding personal space and physical contact.

Question 13

You are leading a group of 25 adults on a tour of your campus and as you pass the tennis courts, you all stop to watch. Half of the courts contain students who are just learning to play tennis, while next to them are several exceptional tennis players from your college tennis team. According to the social facilitation effect, which of the following would you expect?

Accepted Answer

The social facilitation effect suggests that the presence of an audience enhances performance on well-learned tasks (experts) and impairs performance on tasks that are not well-learned (novices).

Question 14

Anne has been practicing her new ballet moves all week. She wants to earn a role in the local ballet company's latest show. Although she has learned the moves very well, she is still making mistakes the night before the audition. According to the social facilitation phenomenon, at the audition, in front of an audience, Anne will:

Accepted Answer

Social facilitation suggests that the presence of an audience can enhance performance on well-learned tasks. Since Anne has practiced the moves well, she is likely to perform them correctly in front of an audience.

Question 15

Asch found that all of the following factors served to decrease conformity in his experiments except:

Accepted Answer

The answer of Asch found that all of the following...

Question 16

Aaron has been trying to improve his time in the 100 metre run. He often practices at the track late at night with his girlfriend timing him. To his amazement, when his friend, Benjamin, who is an excellent runner, volunteers to run with him, his time actually ________.

Accepted Answer

The presence of another person, especially a skilled one, can enhance performance due to social facilitation, where individuals perform better on tasks in the presence of others.

Question 17

The phenomenon of how the mere presence of others can function to increase the likelihood of an individual's dominant response in a given situation is called _.

Accepted Answer

Social facilitation refers to the tendency for people to perform better on tasks in the presence of others when the tasks are simple or well-rehearsed, which is the dominant response.

Question 18

Normative social influence involves conforming in order to be accepted by others or to avoid social rejection, while people conforming to the behaviours or opinions of others because they believe that these others have accurate knowledge and know what is "right" involves social influence.

Accepted Answer

Informational social influence occurs when individuals conform because they believe others have accurate information and know what is correct, as opposed to normative social influence, which is about acceptance and avoiding rejection.

Question 19

When Mrs. Jones asks her kindergarten class, "Who is looking forward to summer vacation?" every student raises his or her hand. Notice that Mrs. Jones did not ask them to raise their hands they just know that is the socially acceptable way to respond to the question. The behaviour of raising your hand in elementary school is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Raising hands in response to a question is a social norm, which is a behavior that is considered acceptable and expected in a particular social group or culture.

Question 20

You behave in the same way as a certain professor does because you believe the professor has accurate knowledge and is doing the "right" thing. Your action best represents the phenomenon of:

Accepted Answer

Informational social influence occurs when individuals conform to the behavior of others because they believe those others have accurate information and are doing the right thing.

Quiz 13: Behaviour in a Social Context