Question 1

What process describes the use of social influence to cause other people to change their attitudes and behavior?

Accepted Answer

Persuasion involves using social influence to change someone's attitudes and behavior. Enticement refers more to luring or tempting someone with rewards or incentives, conversion usually refers specifically to religious or ideological changes, and affectance is not a commonly used term in the field of social psychology.

Question 2

The realistic conflict theory focuses on conflict __________.

Accepted Answer

The realistic conflict theory asserts that intergroup conflict and prejudice arise from competition for limited resources, causing tension and hostility between two groups. Therefore, the theory focuses on conflict between two groups.

Question 3

The __________ effect refers to the finding that people are less likely to aid a person in trouble if there are other people around who are also potential helpers.

Accepted Answer

The bystander effect is a phenomenon in which individuals are less likely to provide help or aid to someone in need when other people are present. This is because everyone assumes that someone else will take action and help, leading to a diffusion of responsibility.

Question 4

Some have suggested that the results of Stanley Milgram's obedience study may have been due to the __________ effect.

Accepted Answer

The foot-in-the-door effect suggests that people are more likely to comply with a large request if they first agree to a smaller request. In Milgram's study, participants were asked to first administer small shocks, gradually increasing in intensity, before being asked to deliver the most intense shocks. This incremental increase may have been a form of the foot-in-the-door technique, leading participants to comply with the researcher's request for increasingly extreme behavior.

Question 5

Behavior directed at helping others with no expectation of personal gain is called __________.

Accepted Answer

Altruism refers to behavior that is directed at helping others without any expectation of personal gain. Primacy refers to the fact that the first information we receive often has a greater impact on our impressions and judgments than later information. Conformity is the tendency to adjust one's attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors to align with those of a group. Manipulation refers to controlling or influencing someone or something in an unfair or dishonest way.

Question 6

Which term refers to a set of characteristics believed to be shared by all members of a particular group?

Accepted Answer

A stereotype is a set of characteristics or beliefs that are assumed to be shared by all members of a particular group. It is often based on limited or biased information and can lead to unfair or inaccurate judgments about individuals within that group.

Question 7

Which of the following would result in cognitive dissonance?

Accepted Answer

The statement presents two conflicting ideas; that pink shirts are considered feminine and that a typically masculine figure such as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson wears pink shirts. This creates cognitive dissonance as it challenges the individual's beliefs and expectations.

Question 8

The classic Robber's Cave study showed that prejudice can be reduced by which of the following?

Accepted Answer

The classic Robber's Cave study demonstrated that intergroup conflict and prejudice could be reduced through the process of superordinate goals, which involves cooperating to meet a mutual goal that requires the contribution of both groups. This finding suggests that bridging divides and building positive relationships between groups may be effective in reducing prejudice. Mere exposure (A) has mixed evidence for reducing prejudice, and relearning social norms (B) may not be sufficient in changing attitudes and behaviors. Rethinking one's stereotypes (D) may be helpful in reducing prejudice, but the Robber's Cave study did not focus on this approach.

Question 9

Discrimination differs from prejudice in that discrimination is __________.

Accepted Answer

Discrimination is a behavior or action whereas prejudice is an attitude or belief. Discrimination is the unequal or unfair treatment of an individual or group based on their race, gender, religion, or other factors. Prejudice refers to preconceived opinions or attitudes about an individual or group without any real knowledge or experience of them. Discrimination is often based on prejudice, but they are not the same thing. Discrimination is unjustified and negative, but the question specifically asks for the difference between discrimination and prejudice, so the correct answer is B.

Question 10

Many people hang up on telemarketers, but others will listen politely to their pitches even if they are not interested in the product. Telemarketers know that anyone who agrees to listen to a pitch is more likely to buy the product, thanks to the __________ phenomenon.

Accepted Answer

The foot-in-the-door phenomenon is a cognitive bias that suggests that someone who complies with a small request is more likely to comply with a larger one. In the case of telemarketing, agreeing to listen to a pitch can be seen as a small request, and it increases the likelihood that the person will eventually buy the product.

Question 11

Your best friend has been acting rather cool toward you lately. As you try to figure out why, you are engaging in the process called __________.

Accepted Answer

Attribution is the process of trying to understand the causes behind another person's behavior. In this scenario, the individual is attempting to understand why their friend is acting cool towards them.

Question 12

Social psychology differs from psychology in its focus on __________.

Accepted Answer

Social psychology focuses on how our social world influences our behavior, thoughts, and feelings. It looks at how we interact with others, how we form impressions of them, and how we are influenced by group dynamics, social norms, and culture. While social psychology may touch on the topics of advertising and conformity, these are not the primary focus. Abnormal behavior is studied in clinical psychology.

Question 13

What do we call judgments about people, situations, objects, or ideas?

Accepted Answer

Judgments about people, situations, objects, or ideas are called attitudes. Cognitions refer to mental processes such as perception, reasoning, and judgement. Stereotypes are fixed and oversimplified beliefs about a particular group. Attributions refer to explanations for the causes of behavior.

Question 14

It is 1951, and you are required to participate in a perception experiment. You join seven others seated in a room. You are shown a 12-inch test line and must choose the line that matches it in length from a choice of three lines. The experimenter, Solomon Asch, is studying __________.

Accepted Answer

Solomon Asch's experiment was studying conformity, as it was investigating how individuals would conform to a group's incorrect answer when presented with a simple perceptual task like comparing the lengths of lines.

Question 15

When members of a group give priority to the cohesiveness of the group over the facts of a situation, they are engaging in what social psychologists call __________.

Accepted Answer

Groupthink refers to the phenomenon where members of a group prioritize maintaining harmony and agreement among themselves over critical evaluation of information and facts when making decisions. This can lead to flawed or irrational decision-making, as dissenting opinions or outside perspectives may be ignored or suppressed in favor of group consensus.

Question 16

What hormone seems to be associated with aggression?

Accepted Answer

Testosterone has been commonly associated with increased levels of aggressiveness in both males and females. It is a hormone that is mainly present in males but is also present in small amounts in females. Studies suggest that higher levels of testosterone may lead to increased aggression and dominance behavior.

Question 17

According to research by Latané and Darley, which person would someone be the most likely to help?

Accepted Answer

According to the bystander effect research by Latané and Darley, people are more likely to help when there are fewer bystanders present. In the scenario where a person falls down coming out of an elevator with only one other person in it, there are fewer bystanders present compared to the other scenarios. Therefore, this person is the most likely to receive help.

Question 18

Attributions are __________.

Accepted Answer

Attributions are explanations that account for one's own behavior and/or the behavior of others. They can be either internal (based on dispositional factors such as personality or ability) or external (controlled by situational factors outside of an individual's control).

Question 19

Drew is standing in line at Walmart waiting to pay for his purchases. A man cuts in front of the line and drops his items on the counter. Drew says to his friend, "That man is incredibly rude." A social psychologist who is within earshot jots down a note so she can use the example in class. What does she write concerning Drew?

Accepted Answer

Drew made a dispositional attribution by attributing the man's behavior to his character or personality (being "incredibly rude"), rather than considering situational factors that might have influenced his actions.

Question 20

What term do psychologists use to describe our liking of other people?

Accepted Answer

Psychologists use the term "interpersonal attraction" to describe our liking of other people. Love may also be a factor in interpersonal attraction, but it is a more specific and complex emotion. Appealing to someone is a subjective judgment, whereas the term interpersonal attraction encompasses a broader range of factors that contribute to someone's overall liking of another person. Cognitive dissonance is a term used to describe the mental discomfort that arises when a person holds two inconsistent beliefs or attitudes.

Quiz 12: Social Psychology