Deck 1: What Is Social Psychology

Question 1

Which of the following questions would a social psychologist be most likely to study?

A) Are crime rates different among people of higher versus lower socioeconomic status?
B) What risk factors contribute to the onset of schizophrenia?
C) Is there a link between playing violent video games and engaging in aggressive behavior?
D) Do citizens in countries with democratic governments report greater life satisfaction than citizens in countries with autocratic governments?

Answer 1

Is there a link between playing violent video games and engaging in aggressive behavior?

Question 2

A social psychologist would be least likely to conduct a study examining the effect of

A) sleep on concentration ability.
B) temperature on highway shootings.
C) political attitudes on friendship formation.
D) academic performance on self-esteem.

Answer 2

sleep on concentration ability.

Question 3

Which of the following is a central part of the definition of social psychology?

A) It uses historical events as its primary source of data.
B) It assumes that thoughts and behaviors are influenced by other people.
C) It focuses more on the behavior of groups than on that of individuals.
D) It emphasizes the solitary nature of human behavior.

Answer 3

It assumes that thoughts and behaviors are influenced by other people.

Question 4

The study conducted by Fein et al. (2007) on perceptions of a political debate focuses on

A) how a candidate's nonverbal behaviors influences viewers' evaluations of his performance.
B) differences in viewers' perceptions of male versus female candidates.
C) cross-cultural differences in political preferences.
D) the influence of other people's reactions on viewers' perceptions of candidate performance.

Question 5

Anita wants to spend her career studying the factors that predict whether the members of a couple are satisfied with their marriage. If she chooses to do so as a social psychologist, it is likely that her pursuit will

A) focus more on people's thoughts than on their actual behavior.
B) emphasize the importance of different personality types, such as "fun-loving" and "open to new experiences."
C) examine couples rather than individuals as the unit of analysis.
D) include systematic observation and measurement of couples.

Question 6

Extrapolating from the Fein et al. (2007) study of political debates, when a cable TV channel shows viewers at home real-time data regarding the debate perceptions of a focus group

A) the attitudes of the viewers at home are not likely to be influenced.
B) the attitudes of the viewers at home are likely to change in the same direction as the attitudes of the focus group.
C) the attitudes of the viewers at home are likely to change in the opposite direction of the attitudes of the focus group.
D) viewers at home are likely to get distracted and confused.

Question 7

The results of the political debate study conducted by Fein et al. (2007) indicate that

A) participants rated a candidate more positively when they heard him make jokes during the debate.
B) a candidate's efforts to make jokes during the debate did not influence participants' ratings of his performance.
C) a candidate making jokes during the debate led participants to like him more when people in the audience laughed at those jokes.
D) a candidate making jokes during the debate led participants to like him less when no one in the audience laughed at those jokes.

Question 8

Sociologists tend to study behavior at the _____ level, whereas social psychologists study behavior at the _____ level.

A) group; individual
B) interpersonal; cultural
C) specific; general
D) social; cognitive

Question 9

Which of the following is not an important theme in social psychological research?

A) The power of the situation
B) The role of the individual's cultural background
C) The motivation to be liked
D) The role of unconscious drives

Question 10

Social psychology is all of the following except

A) a science addressing a diverse array of topics.
B) the study of how people think, feel, and behave.
C) a compilation of anecdotal observations and case studies.
D) an approach applying the scientific method of systematic observation, description, and measurement.

Question 11

Which of the following is not considered an important part of the scientific method?

A) Systematic observation
B) Variable Definition
C) Intuition
D) Measurement

Question 12

Which of the following questions would a social psychologist be least likely to study?

A) What kinds of persuasion techniques are the most effective in product advertising?
B) What are the most important qualities people look for in a romantic partner or friendship?
C) Why do people sometimes behave differently in a group setting than they do on their own?
D) Have attitudes toward gay marriage in the U.S. changed in the last five years?

Question 13

Which of the following statements about social psychology is false ?

A) A goal of social psychology is to develop general principles that describe human behavior.
B) An assumption of social psychology is that only social factors influence human behavior.
C) Social psychology relies on the scientific method to learn about human behavior.
D) Social psychology is concerned with the way in which the imagined presence of others influences individuals.

Question 14

Mariano is interested in how the diversity of a group affects its performance. If Mariano is a social psychologist, it is unlikely that he will

A) conduct experiments that compare diverse and non-diverse groups.
B) focus more on the details of recent Supreme Court rulings regarding affirmative action than examining the actual behavior of groups.
C) be interested in the thoughts as well as behaviors of people within those groups.
D) expect the perceived influence of diversity among the members of the groups to be as influential as the actual changes in performance caused by diverse demographics.

Question 15

Social psychology differs from history and philosophy in its

A) attention to the scientific method.
B) concern with human behavior.
C) greater focus on cultural influences.
D) more narrow and refined bandwidth of interest.

Question 16

Sarunas is a social psychologist. Of the following studies, he is probably most interested in reading about one demonstrating the effects of

A) attitude similarity on interpersonal attraction.
B) immigration patterns on stock market activity.
C) distraction on attention to a visual display.
D) narcotic substances on neurotransmitter activity in the brain.

Question 17

Social psychologists do not generally

A) work in settings outside of an academic context.
B) consider the effects of external, nonsocial factors on behavior.
C) study phenomena about which commonsense beliefs are held.
D) pay more attention to group behavior than the behavior of individuals within groups.

Question 18

Courses in social psychology are often required for students majoring in which of the following fields?

A) Education
B) Journalism
C) Business
D) all of these.

Question 19

Which of the following conclusions regarding the Fein et al. (2007) study of political debates is false ?

A) Participants were more influenced by other people's reactions to the candidate than by what the candidate actually said.
B) The reactions of other people to the candidate were only influential when those people were in the same room as the participant.
C) The factors in our social context that influence our perceptions and behaviors are often subtle.
D) Telling jokes during a political debate is risky because the payoff in terms of audience perception is small and the potential costs are great.

Question 20

Social psychology is primarily concerned with the ways in which

A) group factors contribute to the functioning of social institutions.
B) unconscious forces influence conscious motivations and desires.
C) specific personality characteristics predict behavior across situations.
D) individuals think, feel, and behave with regard to others.

Question 21

Research concerning how depressed and non-depressed individuals process social information is at the intersection of what two fields of study?

A) Personality psychology and cognitive psychology
B) Social psychology and clinical psychology
C) Social psychology and sociology
D) Clinical psychology and sociology

Question 22

To examine the relationship between temperature and violence, Priti manipulates the thermostat in her laboratory while participants are engaged in a military simulation game. She then looks at the effect of this manipulation on their aggressive behavior during the game, comparing participants in the "warm" condition to those in the "comfortable" condition. Priti's research best characterizes what field of study?

A) Sociology
B) Social psychology
C) Clinical psychology
D) Personality psychology

Question 23

Brad is a social psychologist. Marion is a sociologist. Which of the following research questions is most likely of interest to both of them?

A) How do societal and immediate factors influence racial differences in academic achievement?
B) How does positive and negative feedback impact conceptions of the self?
C) Do different socioeconomic groups express different political attitudes?
D) Can an authority figure influence people to act in ways that they normally would not?

Question 24

Hyunwoo believes that image-oriented ads will be more persuasive for individuals concerned with the way they appear to others, whereas ads that stress product quality will be more effective for individuals who are less concerned with their public image. This belief represents the intersection of what two fields of study?

A) Social psychology and clinical psychology
B) Social psychology and cognitive psychology
C) Social psychology and personality psychology
D) Social psychology and sociology

Question 25

Antoine investigates the extent to which depressed individuals have difficulty forming accurate memories of social interactions, particularly when those interactions are stressful. His research is best described as being at the intersection of

A) personality, cognitive, and clinical psychology.
B) cognitive, social, and personality psychology.
C) social, clinical, and cognitive psychology.
D) clinical, personality, and social psychology.

Question 26

Diane is interested in whether women with nurturing personalities are more reliable friends both inside and outside the workplace. Rebecca is interested in the hypothesis that women tend to be more nurturing outside the workplace because others expect them to be nurturing. It is likely that Diane is a _____ psychologist and Rebecca is a _____ psychologist.

A) social; personality
B) clinical; personality
C) personality; clinical
D) personality; social

Question 27

Which of the following "common sense" findings is indeed true ?

A) Most of us expect beautiful people to be unintelligent.
B) Playing violent video games is a safe way to release aggressive tendencies.
C) People come to like an activity more when they are given a large reward for engaging in it.
D) People tend to overestimate the extent to which others agree with their points of view.

Question 28

Which of the following statements concerning social psychology and sociology is false ?

A) Sociologists tend to study societal level variables, whereas social psychologists focus on more specific and immediate variables.
B) Social psychology studies human behavior at the level of the individual, whereas sociology studies human behavior at the group level.
C) Social psychologists and sociologists often study the same issues and publish in the same journals.
D) Sociologists are more likely than social psychologists to rely on experimentation to study human behavior.

Question 29

Which of the following branches of psychology is most interested in "the power of the situation"?

A) Clinical psychology
B) Cognitive psychology
C) Personality psychology
D) Social psychology

Question 30

Although related to other fields, social psychology is distinct in that its emphasis is on

A) understanding the immediate situational factors that influence human behavior.
B) classifying and treating psychological disorders.
C) identifying individual characteristics that are relatively stable across time.
D) describing the relationship between human behavior and societal variables.

Question 31

Astrid has developed a 12-item questionnaire to help her identify individuals who tend to be skeptical of authority figures across different situations. Astrid is most likely a _____ psychologist.

A) cognitive
B) social
C) clinical
D) personality

Question 32

Which of the following research questions does not involve the interaction of social and cognitive psychology?

A) What situational factors influence whether someone interprets an event as an emergency and then makes a decision to offer help to a stranger?
B) How does injury to a particular part of the brain influence the ability to form new memories?
C) How does a threat to self-esteem influence people's ability to pay attention to complex stimuli?
D) How do stereotypes influence our memory of social interactions?

Question 33

To examine the relationship between economic conditions and violence, Gunther compares the murder rates for counties with different median incomes. Gunther's research best characterizes what field of study?

A) Social psychology
B) Clinical psychology
C) Personality psychology
D) Sociology

Question 34

Which of the following is true regarding social psychology and clinical psychology?

A) Researchers in both fields might conduct studies investigating outcomes such as anxiety or depression.
B) Research in social psychology utilized the scientific method, whereas research in clinical psychology does not.
C) Both fields are primarily concerned with the underlying causes of atypical behavior.
D) Psychologists in both fields must become certified in therapy aimed towards helping individuals with mental illness.

Question 35

Sociologists studying the effects of media violence would be more likely than social psychologists to

A) conduct experiments manipulating the amount of media violence viewed by participants.
B) assess changes in television availability and in murder rates over the last thirty years.
C) concern themselves with situational variables that moderate the effects of media violence on its viewers.
D) focus on the types of individuals who choose to view media violence.

Question 36

Marilyn is interested in whether schizophrenic individuals tend to interpret verbal feedback from others as negative even if it is positive. It might be said that Marilyn is doing research at the intersection of social psychology and

A) evolutionary psychology.
B) sociology.
C) personality psychology.
D) clinical psychology.

Question 37

The interaction between individual characteristics and situational constraints on the way people behave best reflects the intersection of

A) cognitive and personality psychology.
B) personality and social psychology.
C) social and clinical psychology.
D) clinical and developmental psychology.

Question 38

It could be argued that social psychology supplements common sense about human behavior in all of the following ways except that

A) social psychology tests commonsense assumptions using scientific methods.
B) social psychology addresses many of the same issues about which people have intuitions.
C) social psychological theories are as broad in scope as common sense.
D) social psychological findings tend to support most intuitive beliefs about human behavior.

Question 39

When comparing social psychology to sociology, a major difference is the

A) target populations studied.
B) number of variables explored.
C) focus on the individual or the group.
D) emphasis on how social context affects behavior.

Question 40

What distinguishes social psychology from other specialties in psychology is its

A) use of the scientific method in research design.
B) emphasis on correlational research design.
C) attention to the influence of situational context on behavior.
D) willingness to consider cross-cultural differences in human behavior and cognition.

Question 41

If a student wants to find the first source that established social psychology as a separate field with an emphasis on experimentation, he or she should probably read

A) Allport's (1924) text.
B) Ringelmann's (1913) article.
C) McDougall's (1908) text.
D) Triplett's (1897-1898) article.

Question 42

Floyd Allport's social psychology textbook, published in 1924, is credited with

A) establishing the field's emphasis on the scientific method.
B) imbuing the field with a cross-cultural orientation.
C) introducing the major theories of social psychology.
D) bridging the "hot" and "cold" perspectives on behavior and cognition.

Question 43

Which of the following events is regarded as having established social psychology as a distinct field of study?

A) The publication of the first three textbooks in social psychology
B) The publication of the first research article in social psychology
C) The formation of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
D) The introduction of the interactionist perspective to the field of psychology

Question 44

Which social psychologist is credited with demonstrating that complex social processes could be studied scientifically?

A) Sherif
B) F. Allport
C) Heider
D) Lewin
E) Allport

Question 45

Social psychological research is a necessary endeavor because our commonsense intuitions

A) tend to be very unstable.
B) often contradict each other.
C) are not as shared by other people as we think.
D) are generally accurate but are held with little confidence.

Question 46

Which of the following is least characteristic of research in social psychology between the 1930s and 1950s?

A) An emphasis on the application of social psychology to practical concerns
B) An integration of social and cognitive processes that determine behavior
C) Attention to the topics of conformity and prejudice
D) The use of experimentation in research

Question 47

Ringelmann and Triplett are best labeled as

A) the first researchers to explore conformity.
B) sociologists who established social psychology as a distinct discipline.
C) pioneers in the field of social cognition.
D) the founders of social psychology.

Question 48

Which of the following people did not author one of social psychology's first textbooks?

A) William McDougall
B) Muzafer Sherif
C) Edward Ross
D) Floyd Allport

Question 49

Of the following important figures in the history of social psychology, who most explicitly emphasized application of the field to social problems in society?

A) Gordon Allport
B) Fritz Heider
C) Max Ringelmann
D) Muzafer Sherif

Question 50

The field of social psychology emerged as a distinct discipline around the turn of the

A) 17th century.
B) 18th century.
C) 19th century.
D) 20th century.

Question 51

Social psychology differs from common sense in that

A) common sense tends to produce more accurate knowledge about human behavior than social psychology.
B) common sense captures the full complexity of human behavior.
C) social psychology is far more intuitive than common sense.
D) social psychology relies on the scientific method to test its theories.

Question 52

Blaine works in a factory producing car stereos. He notices that workers produce more stereos by the end of the day when they work together in the same room than when they work in separate rooms. His observation is consistent with a classic study conducted by which of the following classic researchers?

A) Lewin
B) Asch
C) Triplett
D) Sherif

Question 53

Which historical event sparked great interest in and gave shape to the field of social psychology?

A) The Great Depression
B) The use of two atomic bombs by the United States during World War II
C) The Nazi Holocaust during World War II
D) The American Civil Rights Movement

Question 54

According to your textbook, one of the people who had the greatest impact on the developing field of social psychology was not a psychologist. Who was this person?

A) Plato
B) Charles Lindbergh
C) Adolf Hitler
D) Jackie Robinson

Question 55

The work of Muzafer Sherif was important for the development of social psychology because he

A) demonstrated the interaction between personality characteristics and situational factors.
B) developed professional associations for social psychologists.
C) showed that complex social behavior could be examined scientifically.
D) helped to find solutions to the crisis in the field during the 1960s and 1970s.

Question 56

Muzafer Sherif's research was crucial for the development of social psychology because it

A) introduced the idea of cognitive dissonance.
B) marked the beginning of the pluralistic approach that continues to characterize the field.
C) firmly established the importance of an interactionist perspective.
D) demonstrated the feasibility of studying complex social issues in a rigorous, scientific manner.

Question 57

"Founders of social psychology" Norman Triplett and Max Ringelmann both did research examining

A) the influence groups exert on their members.
B) the impact of the presence of others on performance.
C) how behaviors are shaped by perceptions.
D) the impact of different leadership strategies on group performance.

Question 58

Among the following social psychologists, who was one of the original founders of social psychology?

A) Norman Triplett
B) Stanley Milgram
C) Michael Norton
D) Philip Zimbardo

Question 59

Which of the following classic investigations is not thought to have arisen from the researcher's attempt to understand events in Nazi Germany?

A) Adorno's research on prejudice
B) Triplett's research on performance in groups
C) Milgram's study of destructive obedience
D) Lewin's research on conservation

Question 60

Which of the following people is credited with publishing the first research article in social psychology?

A) Max Ringelmann
B) Norman Triplett
C) Floyd Allport
D) John Haharwood

Question 61

Which of the following best illustrates Lewin's interactionist perspective?

A) Sally is a very creative kind of person who likes to build things.
B) Jerry only works because he receives a very large income.
C) Rikki is usually shy, but at work she appears to be quite outgoing.
D) Maury gives money to charities because he wants other people to think he is very generous.

Question 62

Jack and his girlfriend Diane dine out about three times a week. Jack believes that they hardly ever dine out, whereas Diane thinks they dine out all the time. This illustrates what important theme in social psychology?

A) Behavior is a function of the interaction between a person and his or her environment.
B) Different people can see the same situation very differently.
C) Complex social behaviors can be studied using the scientific method.
D) Social psychological theories can be applied to the solution of real-world problems.

Question 63

Thibaut and Kelley share Heider's interest in

A) the roots of prejudice.
B) people's desire to sustain consistency.
C) the perceptions people have in relationships.
D) applying their research to understanding propaganda.

Question 64

Phoebe is a graduate student in social psychology who will only agree to conducting research that will help address an ongoing social problem. Phoebe's desire is most consistent with the philosophies of which of the following pairs of individuals?

A) Gordon Allport and Floyd Allport
B) Floyd Allport and Kurt Lewin
C) Kurt Lewin and Fritz Heider
D) Fritz Heider and Gordon Allport

Question 65

Mona would like to understand the interactionist perspective. She has enough time to skim two textbooks. She should probably read one textbook in social psychology and one in

A) evolutionary psychology.
B) cognitive psychology.
C) clinical psychology.
D) personality psychology.

Question 66

According to the interactionist perspective, behavior is a result of the interaction between

A) motivation and cognition.
B) introverts and extraverts.
C) personality and situations.
D) theoretical and practical concerns.

Question 67

Which of the following is not one of the fundamental principles of social psychology established by Lewin?

A) Behavior depends on how we perceive and interpret the world around us.
B) Behavior is a function of the interaction between the person and the environment.
C) Social psychology should be applied to important, practical issues.
D) Behavior should be conceptualized as an interaction of cognition and motivation.

Question 68

Lewin's research concerning both how to promote economical and nutritious eating habits, and what kinds of leaders elicit the best work from group members, was important in establishing which of the following?

A) Different topics require different research strategies.
B) Social psychology could be used to understand and help solve practical problems.
C) Early theories in social psychology were often historically and culturally limited.
D) Social psychologists may unwittingly influence the behavior of research participants.

Question 69

An emphasis on experiments addressing the interaction of individuals and their social context is particularly clear in the writings of

A) Rich Petty and John Cacioppo.
B) Max Ringelmann and Norman Triplett.
C) Norman Triplett and Kurt Lewin.
D) Kurt Lewin and Floyd Allport.

Question 70

Galen studies stereotypes and prejudice; Dan studies how people make attributions about others' behavior. Galen and Dan probably feel particular gratitude to _____ and _____, respectively, for helping to establish these areas in social psychology.

A) Asch; G. Allport
B) G. Allport, Heider
C) Heider; Sherif
D) Sherif; Asch

Question 71

Elliot is interested in how people cope with holding two thoughts that are not consistent with each other. He would do best to read the writings of which of the following pairs of social psychologists?

A) Allport and Asch
B) Asch and Heider
C) Heider and Festinger
D) Festinger and Milgram

Question 72

Dimitri would like to read about social psychological research on conformity. He should look at the research of

A) Asch.
B) Thibaut and Kelley.
C) Adorno.
D) Heider.

Question 73

By stressing both internal differences among individuals and differences among external situations, the interactionist perspective is an approach combining

A) personality psychology with social psychology.
B) social psychology with clinical psychology.
C) cognitive psychology with social psychology.
D) social psychology with sociology.

Question 74

Research on the social psychological underpinnings of prejudice might be said to have its roots in research by

A) Adorno and Allport.
B) Allport and Asch.
C) Asch and Festinger.
D) Festinger and Adorno.

Question 75

Suppose that research on how people make attributions about others' behavior was linked to the way in which people compare themselves with others. This would best represent an intersection of the work done by which of the following pairs of social psychologists?

A) Festinger and Hovland
B) Hovland and Asch
C) Asch and Heider
D) Heider and Festinger

Question 76

Because of his research on practical issues, such as the research he conducted in the 1940s concerning promotion of more economical and nutritious eating habits, Kurt Lewin could be considered one of the founders of

A) evolutionary social psychology.
B) psychoneuroimmunology.
C) "hot" theories of social psychology.
D) applied social psychology.

Question 77

Which of the following is true regarding Kurt Lewin?

A) His interactionist perspective argues that human behavior is mostly a function of situational pressures.
B) His push for practical research was met with great resistance in the early days of social psychology.
C) He was the first to test social psychological hypotheses in a scientific manner.
D) He was instrumental in generating research on how groups function.

Question 78

Abe subscribes to a psychoanalytic view of human behavior. Abe's view probably differs from that of Kurt Lewin in that Abe is more likely to emphasize the power of

A) external rewards.
B) internal motives.
C) situational factors.
D) interpersonal relationships.

Question 79

Hovland and his colleagues are best known for their research concerning

A) attribution theory.
B) stereotypes and prejudice.
C) interpersonal relationships.
D) attitudes and persuasion.

Question 80

Which of the following is correctly matched with its founder?

A) Attribution theory; Heider
B) Social comparison theory; Triplett
C) Social cognition; Festinger
D) Cognitive dissonance theory; Asch