Question 1

The ___________ component of an attitude includes the feelings or emotions associated with it.

Accepted Answer

The affective component of an attitude refers to the emotional or feeling segment associated with an attitude, encompassing the feelings or emotions one has about the situation, person, or object.

Question 2

Where do human attitudes come from?

Accepted Answer

Human attitudes come from a combination of being conveyed to us through communication, evolving over time as societies and cultures change, and being learned by observing others and modeling their behavior.

Question 3

The more Tanya hears a new song, the more she likes it. Zajonc's theory would say that Tanya's liking is a result of _________.

Accepted Answer

Zajonc's theory posits that repeated exposure to a stimulus (in this case, a song) tends to enhance one's attitude toward it, a phenomenon known as the mere exposure effect.

Question 4

A company that produces a sports drink hires a popular, successful tennis player to promote its product. It runs television, radio, and Web commercials featuring the athlete winning tennis matches, smiling, and consuming the sports drink. According to social psychological research, which of the following is the most likely reason this sales tactic will work?

Accepted Answer

The tactic works because people tend to associate the positive attributes (like skill and popularity) of the celebrity with the product being endorsed, leading to a more favorable evaluation of the product.

Question 5

Making Connections in Social Behavior: A company that produces a sports drink hires a popular, successful tennis player to promote its product. It runs television, radio, and Web commercials featuring the athlete winning tennis matches, smiling, and consuming the sports drink. The advertisers in this situation are relying on the learning principles of ________________ to promote their product.

Accepted Answer

The advertisers are using classical conditioning by associating the positive feelings and success of the tennis player with their sports drink, hoping that consumers will transfer those positive associations to the product.

Question 6

The feeling of discomfort caused by holding two contrary attitudes and acknowledging the validity of both arguments is called __________.

Accepted Answer

Cognitive dissonance is the psychological discomfort experienced when holding two or more conflicting cognitions (ideas, beliefs, values, emotional reactions).

Question 7

Brett often takes illicit drugs recreationally. Even though he knows it is illegal and potentially deadly, he says to himself, "I only do it once in a while, and I won't get caught or become addicted!" Brett is engaging in __________.

Accepted Answer

Brett is using rationalization, which is a defense mechanism where one justifies or rationalizes behavior, attitudes, decisions, or beliefs that might otherwise be unacceptable. In this case, Brett is justifying his illegal and potentially dangerous drug use by minimizing its frequency and denying the risks of addiction and legal consequences.

Question 8

Someone attempting to change our attitude is engaged in __________.

Accepted Answer

Persuasion is the process aimed at changing a person's attitude or behavior toward some event, idea, object, or other person(s), by using written, spoken words or visual tools to convey information, feelings, or reasoning, or a combination thereof.

Question 9

An individual will be more persuasive if he is __________.

Accepted Answer

Attractiveness has been shown to increase persuasiveness according to social psychology research. People are more likely to be influenced by individuals they find appealing, due to the halo effect, where positive impressions in one area (such as physical appearance) influence opinions in other areas (such as credibility).

Question 10

For a behavior to be considered aggressive, it must be __________.

Accepted Answer

For a behavior to be considered aggressive, it must be intentional. Aggression involves actions or behaviors that are intended to cause harm or injury to another person. This intentionality distinguishes aggressive actions from those that might accidentally cause harm.

Question 11

Caspi and colleagues (2002) found a particular gene that is associated with violent tendencies if the individual was subjected to __________ early in life.

Accepted Answer

Caspi and colleagues (2002) discovered that individuals with a specific gene variant were more likely to develop violent or antisocial behavior if they were subjected to childhood abuse.

Question 12

The part of the brain responsible for _____________ is often malfunctioning in aggressive people.

Accepted Answer

The part of the brain often associated with malfunctioning in aggressive individuals is related to impulse control. This is primarily linked to the prefrontal cortex, which plays a crucial role in managing impulses, decision-making, and moderating social behavior.

Question 13

Which of the following factors make aggression more likely?

Accepted Answer

All of these factors have been linked to increased aggression. Being male is associated with higher aggression levels in many studies, high levels of testosterone have been correlated with increased aggression, and low levels of serotonin are also linked to increased aggression.

Question 14

Albert Bandura's Bobo doll study demonstrated which of the following with respect to aggression?

Accepted Answer

Bandura's Bobo doll experiment showed that children can learn and imitate aggressive behaviors by observing others, particularly when those others are seen as models or figures of authority. This study highlighted the concept of observational learning or social learning, where individuals can learn new behaviors by watching others without direct reinforcement or punishment.

Question 15

Which type of research will demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between viewing violent media programs and acting aggressively?

Accepted Answer

Meta-analysis experiments, which synthesize the results of multiple studies, can help establish a cause-and-effect relationship by demonstrating consistent findings across different contexts and methodologies.

Question 16

Some psychologists theorize that viewing violent programming leads to aggression due to

Accepted Answer

Desensitization to violence is a process through which repeated exposure to violent content makes an individual less sensitive to violence, potentially leading to increased aggression as violent acts become normalized or perceived as less shocking or consequential.

Question 17

Prosocial behavior is that which __________.

Accepted Answer

Prosocial behavior is defined as actions that are intended to benefit others, such as helping, sharing, donating, co-operating, and volunteering. These behaviors are aimed at benefiting other people or society as a whole, regardless of the motives behind them.

Question 18

In the famous case of murder victim Kitty Genovese, psychologists speculate that no one came to her aid because of __________.

Accepted Answer

Diffusion of responsibility, a psychological phenomenon where individuals are less likely to take action or feel a sense of responsibility in the presence of a large group of people, is widely cited as a reason why bystanders did not intervene in the murder of Kitty Genovese.

Question 19

John Darley and Bibb Latané (1968) described the bystander effect as __________.

Accepted Answer

B) John Darley and Bibb Latané (1968) described the bystander effect as the phenomenon where the greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them is to help, due to diffusion of responsibility among the bystanders.

Question 20

The first step in helping someone in the event of an emergency is __________.

Accepted Answer

Realizing that the situation is an emergency is crucial as it triggers the decision-making process on how to respond appropriately.

Quiz 14: Social Behavior