Deck 16: Social Psychology

Question 1

A researcher is an attributional theorist. In his research, he is likely to investigate

A) the conditions under which one person will help another person.
B) people's perceptions of the causes of events.
C) the ways in which attitudes are formed.
D) people's perceptions of the self.

Answer 1

people's perceptions of the causes of events.

Question 2

A panhandler approaches you and your friend for some money. When your friend gives him a dollar, you attribute your friend's behavior to her inherently generous spirit. Fritz Heider would say that you made a(n) ________ attribution.

A) external
B) situational
C) dispositional
D) incorrect

Answer 2

dispositional

Question 3

In attribution theory, an important contribution by Harold Kelley was his observation that the causal attributions people make are

A) usually made using three dimensions of information.
B) usually accurate.
C) based solely on the facts of the situation.
D) attempts to reduce cognitive dissonance.

Answer 3

usually made using three dimensions of information.

Question 4

According to the covariation model, people attribute a behavior to a causal factor if that factor was ________ whenever the behavior occurred and ________ whenever it did not occur.

A) present; absent
B) absent; present
C) present; present
D) absent; absent

Question 5

In the context of Harold Kelley's views on attributions, all of the following concepts belong together EXCEPT for which one?

A) distinctiveness
B) validity
C) consistency
D) consensus

Question 6

Imagine that you have gotten back your test on attribution theory and have received an "A" grade. In applying the covariation principle to understand what caused your excellent grade, the "consensus" dimension refers to whether

A) you receive "A's" in most of your courses.
B) you have received "A's" consistently from this teacher in the past.
C) most other people taking the test also received "A's."
D) you studied especially hard for this particular test.

Question 7

The fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency of people to overestimate ________ factors and to underestimate ________ factors.

A) dispositional; situational
B) situational; dispositional
C) distinctive; dispositional
D) incorrect; situational

Question 8

The author suggests that, to minimize the effect of the fundamental attribution error, we should

A) become more aware of the dispositional forces that are often invisible to the observer.
B) try to identify situational forces that may have caused a behavior.
C) not engage in "attributional charity."
D) talk to people before making judgments about their actions.

Question 9

When a student does well on a test, she immediately takes the credit, saying that she did well because she studied hard or because she is a "brain." When she does poorly, however, she blames the teacher for making up an "impossible" test or her roommates for interrupting her study. This student is demonstrating

A) the fundamental attribution error.
B) the Pygmalion effect.
C) prejudice.
D) the self-serving bias.

Question 10

Research has shown that in educational environments,

A) students, but not teachers, engage in self-serving biases.
B) teachers, but not students, engage in self-serving biases.
C) students attribute high grades to the hard work of the teachers and low grades to their own lack of effort.
D) professors take credit for student success but not student failure.

Question 11

Predictions made about some future behavior or event that modify behavioral interactions so as to produce what is expected are called

A) self-serving biases.
B) self-serving prophecies.
C) self-fulfilling prophecies.
D) expected behaviors.

Question 12

Social psychologists distinguish between the patterns of behavior that are expected of a person in a given setting, known as ________, and the explicit and implicit guidelines for behavior in specific settings, known as ________.

A) social norms; expectations
B) social roles; rules
C) demand characteristics; rules
D) self-serving biases; social goals

Question 13

To be part of the "in crowd," you learn that you should get a certain type of tattoo, dress in the right clothes, agree with the group's attitudes and opinions, and be able to use and understand the "language" of the group. These are examples of what social psychologists call

A) self-serving biases.
B) social norms.
C) reciprocity norms.
D) groupthink.

Question 14

When a boy goes on a campus tour with his older brother, he notices that all of the students seem to be dressed alike. If he asks his brother why they all wear the same styles, his brother should say that this is an example of

A) conformity.
B) obedience.
C) covariation.
D) a demand characteristic.

Question 15

When a majority is influenced by a minority, the influence is usually

A) informational.
B) normative.
C) normative and informational.
D) normative if the minority is small, but informational if the minority is relatively large.

Question 16

Based on the research of Irving Janis, if you want to prevent groupthink from occurring in groups in which you are working, you should

A) make sure the group is highly cohesive.
B) encourage dissent within the group.
C) insulate the group from expert opinion.
D) rely on a strongly directed leader.

Question 17

Imagine that you are a participant in Stanley Milgram's experiment on obedience to authority. As the experiment progresses, you hesitate and protest that you do not want to continue with the experiment. The experimenter will

A) end the study immediately.
B) verbally order you to continue.
C) present shock to the learner himself.
D) force you to switch places with the learner.

Question 18

Psychologists identify three types of information that give rise to attitudes. All of the following are suggested as a type of such information EXCEPT for which one?

A) vicarious
B) cognitive
C) behavioral
D) affective

Question 19

When a sports fan is asked about his attitudes toward sports, he says that he loves sports because he feels an emotional surge when watching them. This fan's attitude is heavily dependent on the ________ component of attitudes.

A) cognitive
B) affective
C) behavioral
D) covert

Question 20

When asked to rate the job that a senator has done, a politician responds, "I think the senator has introduced several important pieces of legislation." In the context of attitudes, this statement best reflects

A) informational influence.
B) cognitive information.
C) affective information.
D) behavioral information.

Question 21

A music critic always seems to be asked for her attitudes about the relative merits of rock music from the 60s and from the 90s. You might expect this critic's attitudes about rock music to be highly accessible due primarily to

A) her knowledge of music.
B) her love of rock music.
C) direct experience.
D) rehearsal.

Question 22

Suppose you take great pride in your critical thinking ability. When others try to convince you to adopt their viewpoint, you like to think carefully about the value of their persuasive argument. According to the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion, you focus your cognitive processes in a manner most consistent with the ________ route.

A) primary
B) secondary
C) central
D) peripheral

Question 23

Critics of the political process often claim that political campaigning focuses, to a substantial degree, on appearances rather than issues. Social psychologists who conduct research on attitude change would say that today's political ads emphasize the ________ route to persuasion.

A) primary
B) explicit
C) central
D) peripheral

Question 24

Cross-cultural research on the self suggests that Canadian participants should experience ________ dissonance with respect to their own choices (because of their independent senses of self), whereas Japanese participants should experience ________ dissonance with respect to their choices for their friends (because of their interdependent senses of self).

A) more; more
B) less; less
C) more; less
D) less; more

Question 25

A friend of yours asks you whether you like scary rides at the fair. Although you have never really thought about it before, you answer "yes" because you remember that whenever you go to the fair you choose the scary rides. According to Daryl Bem, your response is predicted by

A) the fundamental attribution error.
B) a self-serving bias.
C) cognitive dissonance.
D) self-perception theory.

Question 26

When you answer the doorbell, you encounter a young person who hands you a free laminated bookmark and then asks whether you would be interested in subscribing to some magazines. This person is using the sales technique based on

A) self-perception.
B) commitment.
C) the reciprocity norm.
D) scarcity.

Question 27

A stranger asks you for a donation of $20 for a charitable enterprise. When you turn him down, he requests only $1. After you give him $1 you realize that this illustrates

A) commitment.
B) the foot-in-the-door technique.
C) the door-in-the-face technique.
D) scarcity.

Question 28

A young adult believes that elderly people are terrible drivers. He never allows himself to be given a ride by anyone over age 55. This young adult will continue to believe that the elderly are poor drivers due, in part, to the effect of

A) demand characteristics.
B) a self-serving bias.
C) behavioral confirmation.
D) in-group bias.

Question 29

A proponent of the "contact hypothesis" would likely attempt to reduce the hostility that two groups show toward each other by

A) encouraging personal interaction between the members of the hostile groups in the pursuit of shared goals.
B) reducing the amount of contact between members of the hostile groups.
C) increasing any in-group bias that might be present within the groups.
D) increasing the resources that are available to the groups.

Question 30

A review of 515 studies on the contact hypothesis strongly supported the conclusion that contact with out-group members

A) lowers prejudice.
B) increases prejudice.
C) results in violent activities.
D) increases stereotyping and discriminatory practices.

Question 31

According to the research on interpersonal attraction, if you want a person to like you it would be a good idea to

A) make sure that the person does not see you for long periods of time.
B) let that person see you frequently.
C) maintain opinions that are quite different from those held by that person.
D) lead that person to believe that you do not like him or her.

Question 32

Many people think that a particular woman is physically attractive. Based on this information only, you can predict that people will also tend to believe that she is

A) socially competent.
B) unintelligent.
C) a member of the upper class.
D) less likely to be successful in her career.

Question 33

Research on love has found that

A) people initially do not like those they end up loving.
B) in most cases, people initially like the people they end up loving.
C) you cannot like someone whom you do not love.
D) the concept of love is one-dimensional.

Question 34

Being "in love" with someone as opposed to "loving" someone seems to require the experience of

A) passion.
B) intimacy and commitment, but not passion.
C) commitment only.
D) intimacy only.

Question 35

Imagine reading an interview in which a woman says that she would marry only for love and not convenience, and that she is going to spend a great deal of time choosing the "right mate." The woman being interviewed is most likely to come from a culture

A) that values interdependence.
B) that values independence.
C) in which the collective good is more important than the individual good.
D) in which fewer demands are made of potential partners.

Question 36

In the context of adult attachment style, researchers have found that the most enduring romantic relationships as adults are between individuals with a(n) ________ attachment style.

A) secure
B) avoidant
C) anxious-ambivalent
D) companionate

Question 37

You are held spellbound by the account in the newspaper of a man who risked his own life to save a little boy from a burning building, even though he was not related to the little boy. Social psychologists would say that the man demonstrated

A) demand characteristics.
B) altruism.
C) reciprocal altruism.
D) in-group bias.

Question 38

In an investigation of the relationship between the unemployment rates and aggression rates in San Francisco, researchers found all of the following EXCEPT that

A) violence increased as unemployment increased, but only up to a certain point.
B) fears of losing their own jobs may have led some people to inhibit frustration-driven violence.
C) when unemployment was too high, the level of violence fell again.
D) under all circumstances, the higher the unemployment, the higher the level of violence.

Question 39

In a study that is described in the textbook, college undergraduates played either violent or nonviolent video games for 25 minutes, and then were asked to look at violent or nonviolent photographs. The research demonstrated that the brain response called __________ was underactive in those who had played violent videogames and then looked at violent photographs.

A) dopaminergic plasticity
B) inhibitory presynaptic potentials
C) excitatory presynaptic potentials
D) P3

Question 40

From an evolutionary perspective, altruistic behavior is

A) primarily learned behavior.
B) absolutely senseless.
C) partly related to issues of reproduction.
D) determined by situational forces.

Question 41

Researcher C. Daniel Batson has suggested that there are several forces that prompt people to act for the public good. All of the following are on Batson's list, EXCEPT for which one?

A) altruism
B) egoism
C) collectivism
D) conventionalism

Question 42

The research on people's willingness to help strangers in distress was inspired by

A) research on the bystander intervention effect.
B) newspaper reports of an assault and murder of a woman.
C) the discovery of an altruism gene.
D) the finding of altruistic behavior in various animal species.

Question 43

Researchers Bibb Latané and John Darley explored the circumstances under which people will or will not help in emergencies by

A) recreating emergency situations in the downtown section of a major city.
B) interviewing people who had been involved in emergencies and natural disasters.
C) talking with emergency personnel such as police officers and firefighters.
D) creating a laboratory analogue of an emergency situation.

Question 44

Researchers Bibb Latané and John Darley partly explained bystander "apathy" in terms of the "diffusion of responsibility" felt by participants. By this they meant that

A) when others are available, people will often assume that someone else will help or should help.
B) individuals differ to the degree to which they are programmed to act responsibly.
C) the blame for apathetic behavior is best placed on the shoulders of society in general.
D) in emergency situations, people become emotional and should not be held accountable for their lack of action.

Question 45

In a study that is described in the textbook, seminarians who were going to deliver a lecture on the parable of the Good Samaritan were made to come across a man who was in obvious need of assistance. Seminarians who were most likely to help were those who

A) saw that others were also available to help the victim.
B) had once been victims themselves.
C) were not in a hurry or under time pressure.
D) did so because they thought that others would imitate their kindness.

Question 46

Suppose you are at the beach and need to leave your blanket to get some food. Research on bystander intervention suggests that if you are concerned about someone taking your belongings, you should

A) cover them with a portion of the blanket.
B) ask someone to "keep an eye on them."
C) put a note on your blanket saying that you will return shortly.
D) sit in a remote part of the beach to take advantage of the "fringe effect."

Question 47

In research presented regarding the likelihood of 238 residents of Florida to volunteer at a free clinic or the Center against Spousal Abuse, which of the following factors was found to influence the volunteers' satisfaction with their own contributions?

A) The amount of time they were "required" to volunteer.
B) The number of people who volunteered to do the same jobs.
C) The amount of distress they experienced in their volunteer position.
D) The sex of the people with whom they volunteered to work.

Question 48

Minority groups have relatively little normative influence, as members of the majority are typically not especially concerned about being liked or accepted by the minority.