Deck 8: Group Processes

Question 1

The fact that members of an organization who blow the whistle on problematic practices are often treated harshly by the rest of the group illustrates the power of group

A) roles.
B) norms.
C) storming.
D) development.

Answer 1

norms.

Question 2

A group's cohesiveness and its performance have been found to be positively related. This is particularly the case

A) in larger groups.
B) for tasks involving interdependence.
C) for all-male groups.
D) when groups spend a good deal of time worrying about cohesiveness.

Answer 2

for tasks involving interdependence.

Question 3

Loss of productivity is least likely to occur in which of the following scenarios?

A) Daphne isn't quite sure what her role in the group is.
B) Fred must play both an instrumental and an expressive role in the group.
C) Velma's role in the group seems to be constantly changing.
D) Shaggy assumes a clearly defined instrumental role in the group.

Answer 3

Shaggy assumes a clearly defined instrumental role in the group.

Question 4

Groups differ from collectives in that

A) groups, but not collectives, engage in common activities.
B) collectives, but not groups, engage in common activities.
C) groups have more direct interaction with one another than collectives.
D) collectives have more direct interaction with one another than groups.

Question 5

Roles are

A) the rules of conduct for group members.
B) dissimilar to norms in that only roles can be formal or informal.
C) similar to norms in that both must be present for group cohesiveness.
D) beneficial to a group if clear, but can create stress if ambiguous.

Question 6

The extent to which group members think, act, and feel like a single entity is known as

A) social integration.
B) social facilitation.
C) need for affiliation.
D) groupthink.

Question 7

Groups include all of the following essential components except

A) roles.
B) norms.
C) cohesiveness.
D) status.

Question 8

In her group, Melanie is always the one who breaks the tension with a funny story and provides a shoulder to cry on when things go wrong. She can be described as playing a(n)

A) expressive role.
B) facilitator role.
C) instrumental role.
D) normative role.

Question 9

Compared to Tuckman and Jensen's (1977) stages of group development, Gersick (1988) suggests that

A) groups develop gradually through a series of stages.
B) groups adopt problem-solving strategies relatively quickly in their development.
C) groups progress through the first stage of development rather quickly, but relatively slowly through the latter stages.
D) there is little variability between groups in the course of development.

Question 10

People join groups for all of the following reasons except to

A) be protected from threat.
B) fulfill the need to belong.
C) reduce superordinate identities.
D) facilitate interactions with liked others.

Question 11

Three people in the same place at the same time, but not interacting with one another are best described as a

A) social group.
B) minimal group.
C) collective.
D) conjunctive group.

Question 12

Research concerning the relationship between group cohesiveness and performance suggests that

A) cohesiveness has a greater effect on performance than vice versa.
B) performance has a greater effect on cohesiveness than vice versa.
C) the relationship is negative.
D) the relationship is stronger among men than among women.

Question 13

Which of the following is true of groups?

A) Groups differ from the sum of their parts.
B) Groups make better decisions than individuals.
C) People work harder in groups than they do alone.
D) Discussion moderates group opinions.

Question 14

Nita has just joined the outing club, an organization that has been low in members for the last several years. It is likely that Nita will

A) assimilate into the club making whatever changes are necessary to fit in, while the club will make little accommodation.
B) become committed to the group if the group members accept each other and the group.
C) make few changes to fit in, hoping the group will accept her as she is.
D) rarely rely on her relationships with established members of the club.

Question 15

A leader who focuses his or her group on the task(s) it needs to achieve is playing a(n)

A) facilitator role.
B) instrumental role.
C) normative role.
D) expressive role.

Question 16

Group cohesiveness is decreased by

A) threats from within the group.
B) commitment to the group cause.
C) high costs associated with leaving the group.
D) a dangerous environment.

Question 17

Tuckman and Jensen propose that groups develop through which order of stages (from beginning to end)?

A) forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning
B) forming, norming, storming, performing, adjourning
C) forming, performing, storming, norming, adjourning
D) forming, norming, performing, storming, adjourning

Question 18

Which of the following would most likely be described as a collective?

A) Students in a small, discussion-focused seminar
B) Members of a sports team
C) Passengers on a plane
D) A boy scout troop

Question 19

Madeline has recently been accepted into a sorority at her college. She is likely to

A) look to the other new members of the group to determine appropriate group behavior.
B) resist the norms created by established members of the group.
C) social loaf until she feels like an accepted member of the group.
D) model her behavior on that of long-standing group members.

Question 20

Deborah has just joined a sorority at her school. She is unsure what she should wear when she goes to eat at the sorority's dining hall. Her concern reflects Deborah's uncertainty of the

A) informal role.
B) formal role.
C) informal norm.
D) formal norm.

Question 21

Research by Zajonc et al. (1969) in which cockroaches run in simple or complex mazes either alone, in pairs, or with an audience provides support for which explanation of social facilitation?

A) The evaluation apprehension theory
B) The distraction-conflict theory
C) The persuasive arguments theory
D) The mere presence theory

Question 22

The distraction-conflict explanation for social facilitation suggests that

A) the "tunnel vision" brought about by the presence of others always leads to decreased performance.
B) concern about being evaluated by others can distract people who perform in front of others.
C) loud noises and bright lights can lead to the same social facilitation effects as can the presence of other people.
D) performance in the presence of others actually improves for a difficult task.

Question 23

The facilitation of the dominant response from increased arousal will tend to

A) make easy tasks easier, but difficult tasks more challenging.
B) make both easy and difficult tasks easier.
C) have no effect on easy tasks, but will make difficult tasks more challenging.
D) have no effect on challenging tasks, but will make easy tasks easier.

Question 24

The tendency for the presence of other people to increase performance on easy tasks and impair performance on difficult tasks is known as

A) social loafing.
B) social facilitation.
C) group polarization.
D) groupthink.

Question 25

Cottrell et al. (1968) found that dominant responses were no more frequent among people working in the presence of blindfolded others than among people working alone. This finding is consistent with which theory of social facilitation?

A) The evaluation apprehension theory
B) The distraction-conflict theory
C) The persuasive arguments theory
D) The mere presence theory

Question 26

Ingham (1974) asked participants to pull on a rope and found that participants pulled almost 20% harder when they thought they were pulling alone than when they thought they were part of a group. This finding best illustrates

A) social loafing.
B) a social dilemma.
C) groupthink.
D) social facilitation.

Question 27

According to the theory of social facilitation, the presence of others should lead to all except for which of the following?

A) Improved performance on an easy task
B) Physiological arousal
C) A dominant response
D) More carefully deliberated behavior

Question 28

Zajonc's model for how the presence of others influences individual performance is known as social facilitation. "Facilitation" refers to the fact that the presence of others facilitates a performer's

A) ability to focus on the task at hand.
B) task performance.
C) evaluation apprehension.
D) dominant response.

Question 29

Your psychology professor calls you in front of the class and asks you to answer practice exam questions in front of everyone. You find the questions to be easy. According to the model of social ________, you should perform ________ than you would if you had worked on the questions alone.

A) loafing; better
B) loafing; worse
C) facilitation; better
D) facilitation; worse

Question 30

According to the model of ________, when the presence of others is physiologically arousing, a person's performance tends to ________ on a task that is difficult.

A) social loafing; decline
B) social loafing; improve
C) social facilitation; decline
D) social facilitation; improve

Question 31

Gardner and Knowles (2008) asked participants to complete tasks in front of a picture of a favorite TV character and found that

A) social facilitation occurs in such a situation, even though no other actual people are present.
B) social facilitation could still occur, but only when the character was a human one.
C) social facilitation effects are dependent on the presence of real people in a situation.
D) participants became less apprehensive regarding their performance.

Question 32

Cross-cultural research suggests that when individuals fail to carry their own share of the weight for the group

A) cohesiveness suffers less in groups from collectivistic cultures because other people are quick to pick up the slack.
B) collectivist groups are more likely to kick out these individuals than are more individualistic groups.
C) cohesiveness suffers more in groups from collectivistic cultures.
D) collectivistic groups are more likely to seek increases in task complexity.

Question 33

According to Zajonc's model of social facilitation, the three steps in determining the influence of the presence of others on performance are

A) arousal, dominant response, and task difficulty.
B) relaxation, elimination of apprehension, and task difficulty.
C) construal, arousal, and attribution.
D) social comparison, attribution, and justification.

Question 34

All of the following accounts have been proposed to explain social facilitation except

A) the mere presence of others.
B) apprehension about being evaluated.
C) distraction, which can create attentional conflict.
D) a tendency for people to feel less accountable in a group context.

Question 35

According to Zajonc, social facilitation

A) occurs because of concerns about being evaluated by others.
B) results from the physical immediacy of others.
C) occurs in humans, but not in less intelligent animals.
D) can be explained by considering attentional processes.

Question 36

Ringelmann's research in the 1880s demonstrated that

A) people exert less effort in simple group tasks than they would if working alone.
B) the presence of other people improves performance on simple group tasks.
C) groups tend to make more extreme decisions than individuals.
D) individual performance is impaired by the distraction of an audience.

Question 37

In one of the earliest social psychological experiments, Triplett (1898) had children wind fishing reels as quickly as they could. He found that

A) the children were fastest when observed by the experimenter.
B) winding times were faster without an audience than with an audience.
C) the children were faster when working next to another child rather than alone.
D) the children were faster working alone than with a partner.

Question 38

Better performance by an individual on difficult tasks in the presence of others can be encouraged the most when the individual's arousal level is _____ and evaluation pressure on the individual is _____.

A) high; high
B) low; low
C) high; low
D) low; high

Question 39

According to research by Nibler and Harris (2003), which of the following groups is most likely to experience better performance when group members feel free to disagree with one another?

A) A group of friends in China
B) A group of friends in the U.S.
C) A group of strangers in China.
D) A group of strangers in the U.S.

Question 40

Vladimir, a basketball novice, makes about 60 percent of his free throws when practicing alone. However, when playing with his friends, he only makes about 30 percent of his free throws. This decrease is most likely the result of

A) social facilitation.
B) deindividuation.
C) group polarization.
D) social security.

Question 41

Various phenomena commonly occur when people are relatively anonymous and their performance cannot be evaluated. Which of the following is/are more likely to occur in conditions when an actor feels anonymous and free from evaluation apprehension? I. social facilitation, II. social loafing, III. deindividuation

A) I and II only
B) II and III only
C) III only
D) I, II, and III

Question 42

Attentional cues that decrease self-awareness should increase

A) deindividuated behavior.
B) social facilitation on an easy task.
C) cooperation in a prisoner's dilemma.
D) groupthink in a decision-making process.

Question 43

Aggarwal and O'Brien (2008) studied hundreds of college students and identified several keys to reducing social loafing. All of the following are examples of the strategies they suggest except

A) breaking down complex projects into smaller components.
B) keeping groups small.
C) selecting group members low in achievement motivation.
D) using peer evaluations.

Question 44

Esteban's work group has been assigned a new project by management. Before deciding how much effort to exert on this new assignment, Esteban considers how important the group goals are to him and whether his input will help the group reach its goals. Esteban's thinking is most consistent with

A) distraction-conflict theory.
B) the collective effort model.
C) the social identity model of deindividuation.
D) persuasive arguments theory.

Question 45

It seems that every Halloween night in Gotham is marred by violence and vandalism. In order to reduce the likelihood of such behavior, the leaders of Gotham should

A) increase self-awareness by making sure everyone who goes out wears a name tag.
B) increase anonymity by making sure that everyone who goes out wears a mask.
C) make sure that people only venture outside in groups.
D) create a highly stimulating environment by playing loud Halloween music over all public address systems.

Question 46

Deindividuation refers to the

A) loss of individuality and reduction of constraints against deviant behavior.
B) decrease in individual effort on simple group tasks.
C) tendency for group decisions to be more extreme than the decisions of the individuals comprising the group.
D) impairment in group decision making that results from a concern with unanimity.

Question 47

All of the following factors have been suggested to contribute to deindividuation except

A) the presence of others.
B) reduced feelings of responsibility.
C) low arousal.
D) anonymity.

Question 48

Sheila and Peter are invited to a masquerade party. At the party, people start insulting and pushing around Parker, another guest at the party. Given the research on deindividuation, which of the following is most likely false ?

A) If Sheila was dressed as a nun and Peter was dressed as a priest, their costumes would decrease the likelihood that they would behave aggressively toward Parker.
B) If there was a loud band playing that made the floor shake, Sheila and Peter would be more likely to behave aggressively toward Parker.
C) If Sheila and Peter were dressed in costumes in which they could not be recognized, Peter would likely behave more aggressively toward Parker than Sheila would.
D) If Sheila and Peter believed that at the end of the party all the guests would have to reveal their true identities, they would be less likely to behave aggressively toward Parker.

Question 49

At crowded parties, Amy loses her sense of self and, as a result, often behaves in ways that she later regrets. These parties seem to create in Amy a state of

A) deindividuation.
B) cohesiveness.
C) groupthink.
D) entrapment.

Question 50

The fact that many assaults are committed by people wearing disguises-and that these disguised assaults are often the most vicious ones-illustrates the concept of

A) social loafing.
B) entrapment.
C) deindividuation.
D) distraction-conflict.

Question 51

Research suggests that which of the following people would be most likely to engage in social loafing?

A) A woman from a collectivist culture
B) A man from a collectivist culture
C) A woman from an individualistic culture
D) A man from an individualistic culture

Question 52

According to the collective effort model, social loafing is more likely when people

A) see the group outcome as personally important.
B) believe the group outcome is important to other group members.
C) believe that their efforts will lead to the desired outcome.
D) feel that their input will not compensate for social loafing by others.

Question 53

Individuals from collectivist cultures are more likely to engage in social loafing

A) when a group norm of low effort has already been established.
B) when tasks are difficult.
C) in groups with a majority of female members.
D) when task orientation is high.

Question 54

Which of the following conditions makes social loafing more likely to occur?

A) When people believe that their own performance can be identified and evaluated by others
B) When people believe that the task in question is not important
C) When the group in question is small
D) When group members expect to be punished if the group performs poorly

Question 55

Henderson suspects that the other members of his work group may slack off, so he works late and puts in extra time on their proposal. Henderson is engaging in

A) social compensation.
B) social facilitation.
C) social loafing.
D) deindividuation.

Question 56

Lynn needs to get her subordinates to all invest considerable time and energy into the development of a new design for the company's fall clothing line. If she wants to reduce the likelihood of social loafing she should

A) bring together a large group of diverse individuals.
B) tell the subordinates how important the project is to her.
C) bring together a group of men rather than a group of women.
D) communicate to them how success of the project will benefit each of them personally.

Question 57

Deindividuation is more likely when

A) accountability for behavior is high.
B) accountability for behavior is low.
C) the group is engaged in a conjunctive task.
D) the group is engaged in a disjunctive task.

Question 58

Mr. Belding notices that his students seem to put more effort into their individual assignments than into their group projects. This is most likely the result of

A) social loafing.
B) group facilitation.
C) groupthink.
D) group polarization.

Question 59

An employee is working with a group of co-workers to finish a project at work. The employee will be more likely to engage in social loafing if the employee

A) is high in need for cognition.
B) is from a collectivist culture.
C) perceives the project outcome to be personally important.
D) is male.

Question 60

All of the following individual differences are described by your textbook as predicting social loafing tendencies except

A) gender.
B) cultural background.
C) achievement motivation.
D) attachment style.

Question 61

Research on brainstorming in groups demonstrates that

A) people brainstorming together produce fewer and lower-quality ideas than those brainstorming individually.
B) people believe that the ideas generated in group brainstorming sessions are not as good as those generated by individuals.
C) group brainstorming can be enhanced by production blocking.
D) people feel more comfortable expressing unusual ideas in group brainstorming sessions.

Question 62

Johnson and Downing (1979) found that participants wearing nurses' uniforms delivered lower levels of shock when they were anonymous than when they were identifiable. This finding suggests that deindividuation causes people to

A) feel that the normative standards of the group do not apply to them.
B) engage in destructive behavior when they are anonymous.
C) rely more heavily on personal standards of behavior when they are anonymous.
D) act in ways that are consistent with the norms of the most salient group.

Question 63

Group polarization is most likely to occur

A) on important issues.
B) on unimportant issues.
C) when group members know one another.
D) when group members do not know one another.

Question 64

A group of students is discussing whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. The students begin the discussion with opinions that are somewhat in favor of gay marriage. If group polarization occurs

A) students will be more strongly supportive of gay marriage after the discussion.
B) students will be more strongly opposed to gay marriage after the discussion.
C) students' attitudes will not change as a result of the discussion.
D) a great deal of disagreement and conflict will occur during the discussion.

Question 65

The phenomenon of group polarization depends on the assumption that

A) most people are risk-averse.
B) people tend to join groups with others who have similar attitudes.
C) group disagreement impedes positive group performance.
D) group members are from an individualistic culture.

Question 66

Consider a study in which researchers created groups of relatively prejudiced and unprejudiced high school students and asked them to respond to issues concerning racial attitudes, both before and after discussion of these issues. Following the group discussions, you would expect that

A) both groups would become more prejudiced.
B) both groups would become less prejudiced.
C) those who were relatively unprejudiced would become less prejudiced and those who were relatively prejudiced would become more prejudiced.
D) those who were relatively unprejudiced would become more prejudiced and those who were relatively prejudiced would become less prejudiced.

Question 67

In many anonymous online communities, accountability is ______ and attentional cues are _______.

A) low; low
B) low; high
C) high; low
D) high; high

Question 68

Sam, Diane, and Frasier are members of a team competing in a test of general knowledge. Any team member can answer the moderator's questions. The team's task can be described as

A) additive.
B) conjunctive.
C) disjunctive.
D) collective.

Question 69

In conjunctive tasks, group performance is determined by the

A) sum of the performance of each individual in the group.
B) ratio of individual performance to group performance.
C) performance of the weakest group member.
D) performance of the strongest group member.

Question 70

Before a meeting, each of several city council members was tentatively considering an air pollution ordinance. After a meeting, they expressed strong support of the ordinance. This outcome is an example of

A) group polarization.
B) social loafing.
C) a social dilemma.
D) social facilitation.

Question 71

Following group discussion, group decisions tend to _____ the positions of the individuals comprising the group.

A) be more conservative than
B) be more risky than
C) reflect the average of
D) be more extreme than

Question 72

According to the ___________, whether deindividuation affects people for better or for worse depends on a group's characteristics and norms.

A) process loss model
B) social identity model of dendividuation effects
C) emotional reciprocation model
D) conflict-distraction model of deindividuation

Question 73

All of the following appear to reduce the effectiveness of group brainstorming except

A) production blocking.
B) social compensation.
C) evaluation apprehension.
D) performance matching.

Question 74

Groups tend to outperform individuals on

A) additive tasks, but not disjunctive tasks.
B) disjunctive tasks, but not conjunctive tasks.
C) conjunctive tasks, but not additive tasks.
D) additive, conjunctive, and disjunctive tasks.

Question 75

The tendency for groups to become more extreme in their positions following discussion is called

A) group polarization.
B) social loafing.
C) a social dilemma.
D) social facilitation.

Question 76

Farooq and his co-workers are trying to develop a creative direct mail campaign that will increase sales of their new snowboard. Which of the following strategies is least likely to yield high-quality ideas?

A) Hold a brainstorming session with a facilitator trained in group brainstorming.
B) Form an interactive group employing electronic brainstorming.
C) Hold a brainstorming session using Osborn's ground rules for brainstorming.
D) Create "nominal groups" and work independently.

Question 77

Harriett goes trick-or-treating on Halloween. She arrives at her neighbor's door just as the phone is ringing. Her neighbor puts the candy on the table and says, "I need to get the phone, so help yourself to whatever kind of candy you want, but please take only one piece." Which of the following would most encourage Harriett to take only one piece of candy?

A) If Harriet's costume prevented the neighbor from recognizing her
B) If Harriett was dressed up as a pirate
C) If the candy was placed in front of a mirror
D) If Harriett was high in need for cognition

Question 78

Which of the following concerning process loss is false ?

A) Lack of motivation can contribute to process loss.
B) Lack of coordination among group members can contribute to process loss.
C) Process loss contributes to social loafing.
D) Process loss is restricted to disjunctive tasks.

Question 79

Tendencies that interfere with a group's ability to live up to its full potential are referred to as examples of

A) disjunctive tasks.
B) process loss.
C) sample biases.
D) nonadditive effects.

Question 80

Research on brainstorming suggests that

A) it is typically an effective practice, even though people often dislike doing it.
B) it is typically an ineffective practice, even though people often enjoy doing it.
C) it works better among very large groups than among smaller groups.
D) it works better for disjunctive tasks than for conjunctive tasks.