Deck 13: Social Psychology

Question 1

When confounding occurs, the experimenter cannot know whether the independent variable or the second confounded variable produced the change observed in the ____________ variable.

A) extraneous
B) control
C) independent
D) dependent

Answer 1

dependent

Question 2

A participant will be less likely to be influenced by a group in a visual discrimination task if

A) the responses of the group members are incorrect.
B) one member of the group responds correctly.
C) the perceptual task is unambiguous.
D) the perceptual task is ambiguous.

Answer 2

one member of the group responds correctly.

Question 3

Which of the following topics would least likely be studied by social psychologists?

A) aggression
B) reading disabilities
C) altruistic (helping) behavior
D) conformity

Answer 3

reading disabilities

Question 4

Social facilitation refers to the phenomenon that

A) a group of people will often work together to complete a task.
B) the larger the group, the more the group cooperates.
C) the smaller the group, the more the group cooperates.
D) the presence of others can facilitate an individual's performance on a task.

Question 5

In Milgram's obedience studies, the confederate learner

A) instructed the teacher subject to increase voltage following errors.
B) was never actually shocked by the teacher subject.
C) was chosen at random for each experimental session.
D) only rarely made errors on the memory task.

Question 6

___________ occurs when a change in the dependent variable is produced by some factor other than the change in the independent variable.

A) Experimental independence
B) Experimental control
C) Experimental error
D) Randomization

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT a source of experimenter bias?

A) interacting with different groups of participants in different ways
B) nonverbal communication
C) deliberately faking the data
D) individual differences in ability among the participants

Question 8

The field study by Piliavin, Rodin, and Piliavin (1969) on bystander intervention showed that

A) people were more likely to help an ill victim than a drunk victim.
B) people were less likely to intervene when a crowd was present.
C) people were more likely to help a white victim than a black victim.
D) victim characteristics were not related to helping behavior.

Question 9

Experimental control helps to eliminate the problem of

A) variation in the dependent variable caused by the independent variable.
B) experimental error.
C) interaction effects.
D) error variance.

Question 10

In Milgram's laboratory studies of obedience, the participants

A) were forced to obey the teacher.
B) received experimental credit only if they obeyed.
C) could leave the experiment at any time.
D) were paid only if they complied with the experimenter.

Question 11

Orne and Evans (1965) showed that behavioral compliance effects believed to occur only under hypnosis

A) were not observed with control participants.
B) were probably due to demand characteristics.
C) could not be replicated.
D) could be attributed to the degree of hypnotic susceptibility among the participants.

Question 12

McDougall's view that social behavior is largely determined by instincts

A) is still the accepted view today.
B) had very little impact on psychology as a whole.
C) has since been discredited and abandoned.
D) stressed the importance of environmental influence.

Question 13

The autokinetic phenomenon

A) occurs when a constant light stimulus appears to blink on and off after extended viewing.
B) occurs when a stationary light stimulus appears to move by itself after extended viewing.
C) occurs when a moving light appears to be stationary after extended viewing.
D) is one perceptual illusion that is unaffected by social norms.

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT true of field research?

A) It is difficult to manipulate an independent variable while controlling extraneous variables.
B) It is difficult to measure certain responses.
C) There may be ethical issues with not obtaining informed consent.
D) It is generally easy to control for potential confounds.

Question 15

Sherif studied the impact of social norms on perception using the autokinetic phenomenon and found that

A) a person's judgments of light movements were influenced BY reports of other participants.
B) the light seemed to fade away after several minutes of viewing time.
C) participants' reports were unaffected by social norms.
D) although social norms produce changes in behavior in normal settings, the principle does not extend to perception.

Question 16

_________________ refers to the finding that patients in medical research who are in a control condition and who do not receive actual medication, sometimes show an improvement in the illness.

A) Conformity
B) Confounding
C) The placebo effect
D) Experimental error

Question 17

Upon testing variations of his original obedience study, Milgram found that

A) the original participants had conformed to the experimenter's orders only because the study was conducted at a respected institution.
B) obedience decreased as the distance between the participant and the learner was increased.
C) participants were less likely to shock the learner if he was close by than if he was in another room.
D) participants were more likely to shock the learner if other confederate teachers refused to do so.

Question 18

_____________ guarantees that even though a variable cannot be controlled, its influence will not affect the outcome of the experiment by being confounded with the independent variable.

A) Experiment bias
B) Randomization
C) Conformity
D) A placebo condition

Question 19

One technique in psychological experiments is to keep the experimenter from knowing the research hypothesis or the experimental condition of the participants currently being tested. This technique helps to prevent the problem of

A) demand characteristics.
B) experimenter bias.
C) placebo effects.
D) carryover effects.

Question 20

Which of the following is most likely to be used as a dependent variable in a social psychology experiment?

A) preference
B) reaction time
C) percent correct
D) spontaneous recovery

Question 21

Women who do not shave their legs or underarms are violating

A) instincts.
B) social norms.
C) obedience.
D) demand characteristics.

Question 22

Which of the following describes the autokinetic phenomenon?

A) Two lights flash alternatively and they are perceived as one light jumping from one spot to another.
B) One falls asleep at the wheel on the highway due to the monotony of the scenery.
C) One sees a negative afterimage after staring at a colored pattern for one minute or longer.
D) A light spot on a dark wall is perceived to be moving after one stares at it for some time.

Question 23

A large corporation held leadership training classes for lower-level employees of the company. The classes were voluntary and were run in the evenings after work, on the employees' own time. Ten years later, an organizational psychologist found that the employees who had taken the classes had advanced further in the company than those who had not taken the classes. In this research,

A) the number of years which have passed since the classes were given is confounded with training.
B) the motivation of the two groups of employees is confounded with training.
C) the employees' initial status is confounded with training.
D) there are no apparent confounds.

Question 24

Solomon Asch's landmark experiments on conformity provide convincing evidence

A) that people are less likely to conform when there is clear evidence that the group is wrong.
B) that many people will conform to a group at least some of the time even when there is clear evidence that the group is wrong.
C) that conformity occurs only in ambiguous situations.
D) that prior research overestimated the influence of group judgments on the judgment of an individual.

Question 25

Milgram concluded that Yale University's reputation was not responsible for the high level of compliance because there was _____________ between the level of compliance at the university and at a non-university setting.

A) a significant difference
B) a mean difference
C) no statistically significant difference
D) and interaction

Question 26

Lewin (1948) argued that

A) social phenomena are too complex to be studied using the experimental method.
B) first-hand experience of the social world is enough to provide accurate information about social behavior.
C) the idea that adequate concepts about the social world can be derived from everyday experience is not justifiable.
D) social psychological theories are merely commonsense knowledge about the social world.

Question 27

Experiments on the influence of others on the autokinetic phenomenon have shown that

A) the phenomenon cannot be influenced by biased reports.
B) the phenomenon can be influenced by biased reports.
C) When told that the light would move in a certain direction, people no longer perceived the light as moving at all.
D) the reports of others have no influence on one's perception of the illusion.

Question 28

Sherif found that judgments of the autokinetic phenomenon were affected by social norms.

Question 29

The _______________ paradigm is becoming popular for studying a variety of questions about racial bias.

A) placebo effect
B) gun-tool
C) conformity
D) obedience

Question 30

In an experiment, confounding occurs when

A) there is a main effect of the independent variable being manipulated.
B) a second variable is unintentionally manipulated along with the independent variable so that it is not clear which variable has had an effect.
C) there is a second dependent variable that changes as a result of the independent variable manipulation.
D) there is no significant effect of the independent variable manipulation.

Question 31

Which of the following is NOT true of the problem of demand characteristics?

A) Demand characteristics are less important in research that does not involve deception and in which participants are encouraged to perform as accurately as possible.
B) Avoiding demand effects is important consideration in social psychological research.
C) Participants in social psychological research often do not comply with the demands of the experimenter.
D) Demand characteristics are a source of experimental error.

Question 32

When neither the experimenter nor the participant knows which condition of the experiment the participant has been assigned to, this is called

A) a double blind procedure.
B) random assignment of subjects.
C) a placebo effect.
D) experimenter bias.

Question 33

McDougall's view that behavior is instinctive is still widely accepted.

Question 34

Which of the following is true of laboratory research in social psychology?

A) It is possible to achieve greater experimental control in laboratory research compared to field research.
B) Generality of results is less of an issue in laboratory research than for field research.
C) It is never necessary to use deception to conceal the goals of laboratory research into social behavior.
D) Demand effects are less of an issue in laboratory research than in field research.

Question 35

The problem of ____________ is minimized with research in a natural setting.

A) demand characteristics
B) confounding
C) the placebo effect
D) conformity

Question 36

Generalized rules of conduct that tell us how we ought to behave are called

A) instincts.
B) social norms.
C) obedience.
D) demand characteristics.

Question 37

Which of the following would be considered an unobtrusive measure of racial stereotyping?

A) a self-report measure of racial attitudes
B) the participants' ratings of the characteristics of people of a particular racial group
C) a tendency to respond more quickly to stereotypical than to counter-stereotypical characteristics of a racial group after being primed with a photo of a member of that racial group
D) a tendency to use racial stereotypes when asked to provide a verbal description of a member of a particular racial group

Question 38

Which of the following is an acceptable method of random assignment of participants into two conditions of a between-subjects experiment?

A) assigning them in order of their arrival so that the first half go into one condition and second half go into the other condition
B) assigning them in alphabetical order so that participants shoes last names begin with A through M are placed in one group and those whose last names begin with N through Z are put in the other group
C) using a random numbers table to assign subject numbers as the participants arrive and then putting all those with even numbers into one group and those with odd numbers into the other group
D) any of these

Question 39

Psychologists are often unwilling to accept people's own self-reports when studying socially sensitive topics. Social psychologists have created _________________ that allow them to observe hypothesized correlates of prejudice without explicitly asking subjects to report their attitudes.

A) implicit memory tests
B) implicit attitude measures
C) randomization
D) explicit attitude measures

Question 40

Which of the following is true of field research in social psychology?

A) Generality of the results of field research is less of an issue than for laboratory research.
B) Experimental control is less of a problem in field research compared to laboratory research.
C) Measuring the dependent variable is easier in field research compared to laboratory research.
D) The informed consent of participants is not an issue in field research.

Question 41

Results produced by demand characteristics will most likely generalize to other settings.

Question 42

Orne and Evan's failure to find a difference between the hypnotized and simulating control participants provided an alternative explanation of hypnosis.

Question 43

The participants in Milgram's obedience studies probably did not believe that they were really delivering shocks to the learners.

Question 44

Asch's experiments on conformity showed that many participants will conform to the consensus of the group even when their own perceptions tell them otherwise.

Question 45

Randomization is one method of reducing experimental error.

Question 46

Making an experiment double-blind helps reduce experimenter bias.

Question 47

Milgram 's obedience studies showed that very few participants complied with the experimenter's instructions.

Question 48

Experimental control is achieved when a large number of confounds are put into place.

Question 49

Confounding occurs when an uncontrolled variable varies along with the independent variable of interest.

Question 50

Even though Milgram's experimenter had no direct control over the participants, they still obeyed the experimenter's orders.

Question 51

Laboratory research has shown that bystander intervention behavior is affected by the number of bystanders present.

Question 52

When studying socially sensitive topics such as racism, social psychologists would be comfortable accepting people's verbal self reports.

Question 53

Placebo effects reflect changes in behavior that are due to the manipulation of an independent variable.

Question 54

Milgram 's obedience studies showed that very few confederates complied with the experimenter's instructions.

Question 55

Randomization minimizes the likelihood that there will be systematic differences between groups of participants, but it increases the chances that the results will be unreliable.

Question 56

In field research, it is unusually easy to effectively manipulate an independent variable while controlling extraneous variables.

Question 57

Participants in Asch's experiments on conformity were asked to judge which of three lines was closest in length to a standard.

Question 58

People's willingness to obey may be underestimated in Milgram's original study.

Question 59

Milgram showed that obedience to the experimenter increased as the victim was brought closer to the participant.

Question 60

Field research is plagued by problems of demand characteristics.

Question 61

Suggest a hypothesis that could be examined via field research. What design issues would you be concerned about? What variables would have to be controlled?

Question 62

Describe ways in which an experimental psychologist can reduce the risk of experimental error.

Question 63

A toy company wants to determine if employees are more productive if they assemble toys in groups or individually. Briefly outline an experiment designed to answer this question. State the null hypothesis, and the independent, dependent, and control variables. How could the possibility of demand characteristics and experimental bias be reduced?

Question 64

Briefly discuss Milgram's obedience studies. What factors seem to determine whether obedience will occur?

Question 65

Do you think that Milgram's studies were ethical? Should similar studies be allowed today? Why or why not?

Question 66

Discuss the following statement, using specific examples of research reported in the text: "Social psychological research is in many ways more difficult to perform than other types of research discussed in the text, because the situations examined are often quite complex, with many variables affecting behavior."

Question 67

Discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of field research and laboratory research in social psychology. Give examples from the research described in the text to illustrate both.

Question 68

Define the following terms and describe how each of these potential problems can be avoided: (1) demand characteristics; (2) experimenter bias; (3) placebo effect; (4) experimental error.

Question 69

Outline how the expectation of the experimenter and the participants can create problems in social psychological research. Suggest at least three ways in which these problems can be avoided.

Question 70

One problem with field research concerns whether it is ethical to conduct research on people who have not provided informed consent.

Question 71

Describe the method used by Payne to study stereotypes and prejudice. What do the results suggest about the influence of racial bias on an object decision task? What implications do these results have for the effects of stereotypes on behavior outside the laboratory?

Question 72

Contrast the findings from laboratory and field research on bystander intervention. What does this tell us about laboratory research?

Question 73

In a single-blind experiment, the experimenter is unaware of the condition to which each participant has been assigned.

Question 74

What is diffusion of responsibility? Describe the effects of diffusion of responsibility on bystander intervention.

Question 75

Imagine an experiment in which the participants are shown a series of photographs of adults and are asked to give their first impressions of these adults by pressing one button to indicate that they like the person and a different button to indicate that they do not like the person. Half the participants are given as much time as they want to make their judgments and the other half are required to respond within 500 ms. Half the photographs are of people belonging to a negatively stereotyped racial minority. Both the response (like vs. do not like) and the response time are recorded. Given the results of Payne's (2001) research on stereotyping, what results would you predict? Why?