Question 1

When we say something good or bad about someone else, people will tend to associate that quality with us. This phenomenon is known as

Accepted Answer

Spontaneous trait transference refers to the phenomenon where people associate the traits we describe in others with us. This happens automatically and without any conscious effort. Therefore, if we say good things about someone else, people will associate those qualities with us and think positively of us, and vice versa.

Question 2

Priming studies examining the unconscious suggest that the unconscious

Accepted Answer

Priming studies have found that unconscious stimuli can influence behavior, even though participants are not consciously aware of them. This suggests that the unconscious may play a significant role in controlling behavior.

Question 3

According to the text

Accepted Answer

The text suggests that reality is both a social construction and something that our minds actively construe, aligning with both A and B.

Question 4

Research has demonstrated that when shown a face with a neutral expression, participants will interpret the expression as cruel or kind according to what they had been previously told about the individual (e.g., Gestapo leader versus leader in the anti-Nazi movement, respectively). Studies such as this demonstrate

Accepted Answer

This study demonstrates how our preconceptions and pre-existing beliefs can shape our interpretation of others, even when presented with neutral stimuli such as a facial expression. This highlights the power of our biases and how they can impact our perceptions of others.

Question 5

Following political debates, individuals typically

Accepted Answer

Debates often reinforce pre-existing beliefs and biases, leading individuals to become more entrenched in their support for their preferred candidate. This phenomenon is related to the confirmation bias, where people tend to favor information that confirms their preconceived notions.

Question 6

Ross, Lepper, and Lord showed mixed research results on the deterrence effect of the death penalty to students who either favoured or opposed the death penalty. Showing the two sides this identical body of mixed evidence

Accepted Answer

The answer of Ross, Lepper, and Lord showed mixed research...

Question 7

According to your text, the reason why ambiguous information in politics, religion, and science often fuels conflict is because

Accepted Answer

Ambiguous information in politics, religion, and science often reinforces pre-existing opinions, which can lead to conflict as people become more entrenched in their beliefs and less open to alternative perspectives.

Question 8

The act of automatic (uncontrolled) activation of particular associations in our memory is best known as the

Accepted Answer

The act of automatic activation of particular associations in our memory is known as the priming effect. This occurs when exposure to a particular stimulus (e.g. a word, image, or emotion) influences our response to a subsequent stimulus, often without our conscious awareness. This is an important phenomenon in cognitive psychology and can have implications for behavior, decision making, and perception.

Question 9

The process where people associate traits that we talk about other people having with ourselves (e.g., you talk about how another person is a gossip, some people may unconsciously associate gossip with you) is known as

Accepted Answer

The process where people associate traits that we talk about other people having with ourselves is known as spontaneous trait transference. This occurs because our own traits become primed in our mind when we talk about them in relation to other people, and this can lead to others unconsciously associating those traits with us as well. Counterfactual thinking involves imagining alternative scenarios to past events, the priming effect refers to the influence of subtle cues on behavior, and confirmation bias involves seeking out information that confirms our existing beliefs.

Question 10

Preconceptions seem to influence our social judgments most when

Accepted Answer

Preconceptions, or our existing biases, are most likely to affect our social judgments when the social information we receive is subject to multiple interpretations. In situations where the information is clear and unambiguous, our preconceptions may have less of an impact as there is less room for interpretation. Similarly, if the information we have is complete, our preconceptions may have less of an impact as there are fewer gaps to fill in with our assumptions. However, when there are multiple ways to interpret the social information, our preconceptions may influence which interpretation we choose to believe.

Question 11

Anderson, Lepper, and Ross provided people with evidence that either risk-prone or cautious people make better firefighters. Those who wrote an explanation for the findings were particularly susceptible to

Accepted Answer

Belief perseverance refers to the tendency for people to maintain their beliefs even in the face of contradictory evidence. In this case, if someone wrote an explanation for the findings that risk-prone people make better firefighters, they may be more likely to ignore evidence that suggests otherwise and continue to hold onto their belief, thus demonstrating belief perseverance.

Question 12

To retrieve a memory, you need to activate one of the strands that leads to it, a process known as

Accepted Answer

Priming is the process by which exposure to a stimulus that is related to a target memory enhances the activation of that memory. By activating one of the strands that leads to the target memory, priming facilitates the retrieval of the memory. Belief perseverance refers to the persistence of a belief despite evidence to the contrary and is not related to memory retrieval. Reconstruction is the process by which memories are pieced together from bits of information, but it is not related to the initial activation of a memory. Induction is the process of drawing general conclusions based on specific observations, and is also not related to memory retrieval.

Question 13

In a study of what's been called the "hostile media phenomenon," Valone, Ross, and Lepper (1985) showed pro-Israeli and pro-Arab students network news coverage of the 1982 killing of civilian refugees in Lebanon. Results showed

Accepted Answer

The study found that both pro-Israeli and pro-Arab students perceived the news to be hostile to their respective sides, indicating the existence of the "hostile media phenomenon."

Question 14

One possible solution to the belief perseverance phenomenon is to

Accepted Answer

The answer of One possible solution to the belief perseverance...

Question 15

Which of the following statements about social perceptions is false?

Accepted Answer

We do not base decisions primarily based on the priorities of others. While we may take into account the opinions of others and be influenced by social norms, ultimately our decisions are based on our own priorities and values.

Question 16

Although research has been very clear on the harmful effects of drug dependency, Carla continues to believe that one Tylenol a day is harmless. Carla's thinking clearly reveals

Accepted Answer

Carla's belief in the safety of one Tylenol a day despite clear evidence of the harmful effects of drug dependency shows belief perseverance, which is the tendency to hold on to beliefs even when they are proven to be incorrect. The other options are not relevant to the scenario.

Question 17

It is not uncommon for people to hang on to their beliefs even when substantial evidence suggests they are untrue, counterproductive, and even harmful. This tendency is known as the

Accepted Answer

The belief perseverance phenomenon refers to the tendency for people to hold on to their beliefs even in the face of contradictory evidence. This can occur even when the evidence suggests that the belief is counterproductive or even harmful. This phenomenon can be seen in a variety of contexts, including political beliefs, religious beliefs, and even scientific beliefs.

Question 18

What concept best explains why disputing labour and management representatives may both perceive an impartial mediator to be biased toward the other side?

Accepted Answer

Powerful preconceptions influence how individuals interpret the actions and decisions of an impartial mediator. Both sides may come into the negotiation with strong biases and expectations about the other party and the mediator, leading them to perceive any decision that does not fully align with their interests as evidence of bias towards the other side. This is because their pre-existing beliefs and expectations about the negotiation process and the other party's intentions can color their interpretation of the mediator's actions, making it difficult for them to see the mediator as truly neutral.

Question 19

Jennifer is home alone and has just finished watching the movie re-make of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. She hears a noise in her garage and becomes very afraid as she thinks someone may be trying to break into her house. This example best represents the concept of

Accepted Answer

Jennifer's fear is influenced by the recent movie she watched, which primes her to interpret the noise in the garage as a potential break-in, demonstrating the priming effect. This effect occurs when exposure to a stimulus influences a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention.

Question 20

Suppose a group of people who oppose gun control is presented with research evidence that is ambiguous about how well gun-control legislation will deter crime. Some of the evidence suggests that such laws would reduce crime, whereas other evidence suggests it would be ineffective or even backfire. After reviewing the evidence, how will most people in the group react?

Accepted Answer

This scenario describes cognitive dissonance, where people are presented with evidence that challenges their belief system. According to the theory of cognitive dissonance, people are likely to become more strongly opposed to gun control legislation in order to reduce the uncomfortable feeling of cognitive dissonance that arises from conflicting beliefs and evidence. This is also known as the "backfire effect," where presenting contradictory evidence can actually reinforce pre-existing beliefs.

Quiz 3: Social Beliefs and Judgments