Question 1

In referring to group behavior, what is a 'norm'?

Accepted Answer

A 'norm' is an expected behavior that is adhered to by members of the group. Norms are society's definition of how we "should" behave. These norms differ from culture to culture and also from group to group within each culture.

Question 2

Conforming to group pressure out of a need for acceptance and approval is called _____________.

Accepted Answer

The conformity to group pressure because of a need of acceptance and approval is referred to as Normative Social Influence. This can include such things as asking what everyone is wearing to a certain social function to giving in to destructive or illegal behaviors to maintain acceptance and approval.

Question 3

Every culture has definite 'norms.' One that seems to include all cultures has to do with maintaining an appropriate distance between people. This distance is referred to as _________.

Accepted Answer

The comfortable distance to maintain between people is known as Personal Space. This distance will vary from culture to culture. For instance, Americans seem to like twice as much distance as, say, the Chinese culture. The preferred interpersonal distance will differ according to the situation also.

Question 4

Groups seem to have several influences on an individual; one such influence comes from the need for direction and information and the belief that the group has more knowledge than the individual. This is referred to as ___________________________.

Accepted Answer

Have you ever bought a specific brand of anything (a cell phone, or ski equipment) because your friend recommended it? You conform not to gain their approval (Normative Social Influence), but because you assume they have more information than you. That is Informational Social Influence.

Question 5

Attractive actors/actresses and popular sports stars are paid lots of money to endorse certain products because advertisers know that we want to be as cool, beautiful, or popular as they are. What is this major factor in conformity called?

Accepted Answer

Anyone we admire, like, or want to imitate is in this Reference Group. A funny thing about humans is that we think if we just wear the same kind of outfit, or use the same makeup, or buy the same type of sports shoes, we will be just as gorgeous, athletic, or as talented as our favorite star or personage.

Question 6

What are the two major forms of social influence?

Accepted Answer

Conformity and obedience are the two major forms of social influence. When people understand all the factors involved in a situation they can use that knowledge to decide when obedience and/or conformity is appropriate and ethical. Conformity and obedience in the wrong group or portion of society can also be a major influence in the downfall of society.

Question 7

One of the best ways to decrease destructive forms of obedience is by the assignment of _________________.

Accepted Answer

Research has found when participants are reminded that they will be held responsible for an outcome (harm to others - destruction of property), the destructive obedience is reduced sharply. Responsibility reminders in all actions help participants make their 'own' decisions instead of 'group' decisions.

Question 8

What is Conformity?

Accepted Answer

Any one of the descriptions above fit conformity. When you conform (or change) your opinions, actions, or thinking to fit into or belong to a group of any size (remember two can be a group), you are giving in to 'conformity.'

Question 9

How do you decide why someone did something? It has been found that most people first try to figure out if the person acted as a result of internal or external causes. Harold Kelly gave three criteria for answering the internal-external question; can you find two of them below?

Accepted Answer

The three criteria are Consistency, Consensus, and Distinctiveness. When all three are high, Harold Kelly says we tend to make External Attributions, But when consensus and distinctiveness are low and consistency is high, we tend to make Internal Attributions.

Question 10

One error, or shortcut, to deciding internal/external attribution is so prevalent or basic that it is known as _____________.

Accepted Answer

Fundamental Attribution Error is a mistake in judging the causes of others' behavior that comes from the tendency to overestimate internal, personal factors and underestimate external, situational influences.

Question 11

There is a Saliency Bias associated with Attribution. Which statement below most closely describes the meaning?

Accepted Answer

Saliency Bias is the tendency to focus attention on vivid (salient) or more noticeable factors when explaining the causes of behavior. The fact that the more noticeable factors out show the situational factors help us to make quicker judgments. This leads to another factor called "Blaming the Victim."

Question 12

Why are people likely to blame the victim?

Accepted Answer

An example of blaming the victim that is often used is one of blaming people on welfare for their joblessness or asking people who have been victimized by poverty, robbery, or rape 'why' they got themselves into such a situation. Again, it's the most noticeable, stand out factor that we see first, so we tend to affix blame without looking into the situational factors that are not concrete and conspicuous. Or we use the 'blanketing' effect-if a few incidences of people cheating the welfare system are made known, for example, we just assume that all people receiving welfare are guilty of anything like it.

Question 13

Fear Induction is one of the most effective persuasion techniques and is commonly used in advertisements and public service announcements. For fear tactics to work, there must be three factors to the message. They are ____________, _____________, and ____________.

Accepted Answer

The fear induction can come from all kinds of sources - from politicians warning us of higher taxes and more crime if we don't vote for them to ads warning us of social rejection if we don't use the right mouthwash or a little more seriously, the public service announcement about drinking and driving. With these three factors in any message, it is likely to be received as 'truth' by someone. The appeal must engender a lot of fear, the audience must believe the message, and specific instructions for avoiding the danger must be presented.

Question 14

A classification system developed by a task force of the American Psychiatric Association would be ___________________.

Accepted Answer

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is a classification system developed by a task force of the American Psychiatric Association and is used to describe abnormal behaviors.

Question 15

Does the DSM-V explain the causes of disorders?

Accepted Answer

The DSM-V does not attempt to explain the causes of disorders; it is strictly descriptive.

Question 16

The first edition of the DSM was published in 1952. When was the last edition, DSM-V, issued?

Accepted Answer

There have been several editions of the DSM, starting with the first one in 1952, the second in 1968, the third in 1980, the revised third edition in 1987, the fourth in 1994, the fourth revised edition in 2000, and the fifth in 2013.

Question 17

Why do they need to keep changing the manual?

Accepted Answer

The list of disorders keeps expanding and there are changes in the descriptions and categories. New information from scientific research also needs to be added and the changing views of our society changes the way we think of abnormal behaviors.

Question 18

Does the DSM-V classify people?

Accepted Answer

The DSM-V classifies disorders that people have, not the people themselves. The text in the DSM-V avoids the use of terms such as "schizophrenia." Instead, for example, they use the more awkward, but accurate, term "a person with schizophrenia."

Question 19

What about the term "insanity"? Where does it fit in?

Accepted Answer

Insanity is a legal term. It indicates that a person cannot be held responsible for his/her actions because of mental illness.

Question 20

In 2013 the newest edition, the DSM-V, was published 13 years after the last update to the DSM. True or False?

Accepted Answer

The DSM-IV was released in 1994, but a text revision (the DSM-IV-TR) was released in 2000. 13 years after that, the DSM-V was published.

Quiz 9: EPPP 4