Question 1

According to the false consensus effect, most people ____.

Accepted Answer

The false consensus effect refers to the tendency for individuals to overestimate the extent to which others share their beliefs or behaviors. This can lead individuals to believe that their opinions or behaviors are more typical or normal than they actually are. Therefore, A is the correct choice.

Question 2

Jules and Jim are reading a book review about a book that both of them have read. Jules hated the book, and seems to feel that the reviewer also hated it. Meanwhile, Jim thought the book was witty and provocative, and he seems to think that the reviewer shares HIS views. It seems as though both Jules and Jim are "seeing" different things when reading the book review. That is, both of them seem to be engaging in the ____.

Accepted Answer

Jules and Jim are both engaging in confirmation bias, where they interpret the review in a way that confirms their pre-existing beliefs and opinions about the book. Jules believes the reviewer hates the book because that aligns with his own negative view, and Jim believes the reviewer shares his positive view for the same reason. They are both selectively filtering information to fit their own narrative, rather than objectively considering the review on its own merits.

Question 3

In informal surveys, people always overestimate the number of lesbians who have AIDS. Lesbians actually have extremely low rates of AIDS, but people tend to associate lesbians with gay men (who have relatively high rates). Thus, people tend to think that they see a lesbian-AIDS relationship when in fact there is no such relationship. This is a good example of the ____.

Accepted Answer

This is an example of an illusory correlation, as people are perceiving a relationship between lesbianism and AIDS that does not actually exist.

Question 4

People apply the ____ exclusively to their own desirable behaviors.

Accepted Answer

The false uniqueness effect is a cognitive bias where people tend to apply positive characteristics or behaviors exclusively to themselves, believing that they are unique in possessing them, while attributing negative characteristics to external factors. This bias is often seen in self-enhancement strategies, where individuals highlight their own positive attributes over others. The gain-loss effect refers to the tendency of people to value something more if it was once threatened or taken away, while the fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to overemphasize dispositional explanations for others’ behavior while underemphasizing situational factors. The self-fulfilling prophecy is a phenomenon where our expectations about others or ourselves influence our behavior towards them, ultimately leading to the fulfillment of expectations.

Question 5

People who think they have a "hot hand" after winning five poker hands in a row tend to think that ____.

Accepted Answer

This is known as the hot hand fallacy or the gambler's fallacy, where someone believes that previous successes will increase the likelihood of future success, despite the odds remaining the same. Studies have shown that there is no evidence to support this belief, and that each hand in poker is independent of previous hands.

Question 6

Suppose that you meet someone who is smart, adventurous, and highly knowledgeable about rockets and outer space. Even though there are not many astronauts in the world, you might immediately assume that this person is an astronaut just because he or she fits your image of what an astronaut is like. That is, you might ____ and rely on the ____.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Suppose that you meet someone who is...

Question 7

Suppose that a coin is flipped 20 times. The first 19 flips are all heads. Is the last flip more likely to be heads, more likely to be tails, or equally likely to be heads or tails? When people engage in the gambler's fallacy, they ____.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Suppose that a coin is flipped 20...

Question 8

You flip a coin ten times in a row. Every single time it comes up heads. On the eleventh flip, is it more likely to be heads, tails, or are heads and tails equally likely? If you are a hot hand player, you will answer ____.

Accepted Answer

The probability of flipping a coin and getting heads is always 50/50, regardless of previous flips. The outcome of the previous ten flips does not influence the probability of the eleventh flip. Thus, the answer is A, heads.

Question 9

Elenita is from a relatively sheltered background. When she goes to college, she meets a Hispanic student. This student is the only Hispanic person she has ever known. The student is very independent and outspoken on their first meeting. After that meeting, Elenita decides that Hispanics in general must be independent and outspoken. Elenita's reaction illustrates the ____.

Accepted Answer

Elenita's reaction illustrates one-shot illusory correlation, which occurs when someone forms a stereotype based on one single encounter or experience with a member of a particular group. In this case, Elenita's encounter with the independent and outspoken Hispanic student led her to assume that all Hispanics must be the same way. The other options, base-rate fallacy, false consensus effect, and illusory correlation, do not accurately describe Elenita's reaction in this scenario.

Question 10

Which of the following is an explanation for the false consensus effect, but not an explanation for the false uniqueness effect?

Accepted Answer

The false consensus effect occurs when individuals overestimate how much others share their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Using themselves as an "anchor" when judging others is a cognitive bias that explains why people might assume their own views are more common than they actually are. This is specific to the false consensus effect and does not explain the false uniqueness effect, which involves underestimating how common one's abilities and positive behaviors are among others.

Question 11

The tendency for people to overestimate the link between variables that are related only slightly or not at all is known as the ____.

Accepted Answer

The illusory correlation refers to the tendency to overestimate the association between variables that are related only slightly or not at all. The conjunction fallacy refers to the belief that specific conditions are more probable than a single general one. The representativeness heuristic involves making judgments based on perceived similarity or stereotypes. The base rate fallacy is the failure to consider the base rate or prior probability of an event occurring.

Question 12

Tom believes that he is exceptionally insightful when it comes to understanding and helping others. In fact, he brags that he is probably one in a million when it comes to insight. Assuming Tom is not quite as special as he thinks he is, Tom's perception of himself most likely reflects the ____ effect.

Accepted Answer

Tom's belief that he is exceptionally insightful and one in a million suggests that he has a very high level of self-esteem and self-regard. This aligns with the false uniqueness effect, which is a cognitive bias in which individuals overestimate the extent to which their abilities, characteristics, and experiences are unique from those of others. Tom likely believes that his level of insightfulness is rare and exceptional, when in reality it is more likely that many other people possess similar levels of insight.

Question 13

The false consensus effect refers to the tendency for people to ____.

Accepted Answer

The false consensus effect refers to the tendency for people to overestimate the number of people who agree with them. This can lead to a perception that one's own beliefs and behaviors are more prevalent than they actually are.

Question 14

When engaged in debate over especially contentious issues such as racism, religious bias, or marriage equality, people who have polar opposite views often believe that their own views of those the majority. This illustrates the ____ effect.

Accepted Answer

The false consensus effect refers to people's tendency to overestimate how much other people share their beliefs or attitudes. In the context of contentious issues, people with opposing views may believe that their own perspective is widely held because they interact primarily with like-minded individuals and are not exposed to diverse opinions. This can lead to a false sense of consensus and make it difficult for individuals to understand and empathize with others who hold different views.

Question 15

The so-called "gambler's fallacy" refers to the ____.

Accepted Answer

The gambler's fallacy is the false belief that chance events are affected by previous events and that they will "even out" over time. This is a common misconception in gambling where individuals believe that if a certain outcome has not occurred in a while, it is more likely to happen soon. However, each event is independent of previous events and the probability does not change over time.

Question 16

Research indicates that people are especially likely to engage in the false consensus effect when it comes to ____, and especially likely to engage in the false uniqueness effect when it comes to ____.

Accepted Answer

The false consensus effect occurs when people overestimate how much others share their beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors, often seen with their undesirable characteristics. Conversely, the false uniqueness effect is when individuals think their positive qualities or abilities are more unique than they actually are, typically regarding their desirable characteristics.

Question 17

The so-called illusory correlation can most directly help explain ____.

Accepted Answer

Illusory correlation refers to the tendency for people to perceive a relationship between two variables that are not actually related or only weakly related. One specific example of this phenomenon is the tendency for people to overestimate the degree to which members of minority groups engage in criminal behaviors. This can happen because people are more likely to notice and remember instances when a member of a minority group is involved in a crime, leading them to falsely associate minority status with criminal behavior.

Question 18

In a famous early study in social psychology, fans of two rival football teams were asked to watch footage of an actual game that was very close. Researchers found that fans of the two teams literally "saw" different games; things that were deemed "out" by fans of one team, for example, were deemed "in" by fans of the other. This was early evidence of the phenomenon known as ____.

Accepted Answer

This study is an example of the confirmation bias, where people tend to favor information that confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses, regardless of whether the information is true. In this case, fans' biases towards their own team influenced how they interpreted the events of the game.

Question 19

Letha has just met her first Mormon missionary. In conversation, she finds out that he is a collector of rare books. If Letha commits the one-shot illusory correlation, she will ____.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Letha has just met her first Mormon...

Question 20

The tendency to overestimate the link between variables that are related only slightly or not at all after just one exposure to a group member performing a behavior illustrates the ____.

Accepted Answer

The phenomenon described in the question is known as the one-shot illusory correlation. This is a cognitive bias in which people overestimate the relationship between two variables that are related only slightly or not at all, after just one exposure to a group member performing a behavior. The illusory correlation is "one-shot" because it only takes one instance of observing a behavior to create the false belief. The hot hand and magical thinking are unrelated concepts.

Quiz 5: Social Cognition