Question 1

Which of the following is the best example of someone soliciting information and thereby being affected by informational influence?

Accepted Answer

The man is actively seeking out information to guide his decision-making, which is an example of informational influence as he is influenced by the information he gathers.

Question 2

The text describes an experiment in which groups of subjects discuss the punishment appropriate for "Johnny Rocco," a juvenile delinquent. In this experiment, subjects LEAST liked a confederate when he played the role of a person who ____.

Accepted Answer

According to the experiment described in the text, the confederate who played the role of a person who disagreed with the group (deviant) was the least liked. This suggests that individuals who go against the group norm or consensus are viewed less positively compared to those who conform to the group. Therefore, option B is the correct choice.

Question 3

A number of social psychological studies have made use of the autokinetic effect in order to understand ____.

Accepted Answer

The autokinetic effect is the phenomenon where a stationary point of light appears to move in a dark room. Social psychologists have used this effect to study informational influence and the formation of group norms, as individuals in a group tend to conform to the group's perceived norm of how far the light is moving.

Question 4

Samuela never pays attention in class and never studies, and she tends to fail most of the tests she takes in school. However, she constantly looks for opportunities to cheat during tests; she looks at her neighbors' answers and then writes down what she sees, assuming that her neighbors know the test material better than she does. In these cases, Samuela's test answers are based on ____.

Accepted Answer

Samuela's test answers are based on informational influence, which means she is relying on the information she gathers from her neighbors to answer the test questions. She is not following any implicit social norms, nor is she being influenced by normative influence or elaboration likelihood.

Question 5

Two types of situations tend to produce informational influence. They are ____.

Accepted Answer

Informational influence occurs when people look to others to provide guidance in uncertain situations, such as ambiguous or crisis situations, where the correct course of action is unclear.

Question 6

Josephine is at the park with her kids. Another child falls off the monkey bars and is unconscious. Josephine doesn't immediately react because she assumes the injured child's mother is nearby and knows what to do. In fact, the child's mother doesn't know any more than Josephine does. Josephine's assumption that the mother will know more than she does is an example of ____.

Accepted Answer

Josephine's assumption that the other mother knows what to do is an example of pluralistic ignorance, which is the phenomenon of assuming that others have knowledge or opinions that you lack, and relying on them for guidance in ambiguous situations.

Question 7

In one well-known social psychological experiment, research participants were brought into a dark room where an experimenter projected dots of light. These dots of light appeared to move slightly as they were projected-though exactly how far they moved the participants couldn't say. When asked to estimate the distance that the light traveled, participants tended to look to others in the room, and ask them what they thought. All of the participants thus ended up giving somewhat similar answers-thereby establishing ____.

Accepted Answer

The experiment described in the question is a classic demonstration of how group norms can be established. Participants are uncertain about how to estimate the distance that the light traveled, so they look to others for guidance. Through this social comparison process, a norm is established and all of the participants end up giving somewhat similar answers.

Question 8

Which of the following things would make you relatively MORE likely to conform in a group situation?

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that people are more likely to conform in medium-sized groups (5-7 people) than in smaller groups (2-3 people) or larger groups (8+ people). This is because in a medium-sized group, there is a balance between the influence of the majority and the ability of individuals to express dissenting opinions. The other options (A, B, and C) are unlikely to increase conformity. Being good at the task may increase confidence and independence, having no experts in the group may decrease pressure to conform, and not caring about the other members may decrease the desire to belong and conform to the group.

Question 9

Social psychologists distinguish between two forms of social influence, ____.

Accepted Answer

Social psychologists distinguish between normative social influence, which is the influence of other people that leads us to conform in order to be liked and accepted by them, and informational social influence, which is the influence of other people that leads us to conform because we see them as a source of information to guide our behavior. Implicit and explicit, social and cultural, and internal and external forms of influence are not the primary distinctions made by social psychologists.

Question 10

Mark has been attending a Bible study with friends from his dorm. He really likes these people, although he thinks that their interpretation of the Bible is dead wrong. Yet in the Bible studies, he tends to agree with them to avoid conflict because he enjoys their friendship so much. Mark is most likely experiencing ____.

Accepted Answer

Mark is publicly complying with his friends' interpretation of the Bible in order to avoid conflict and maintain friendships, even though he privately disagrees with them.

Question 11

In one well-known social psychological experiment, research participants were brought into a dark room where an experimenter projected dots of light. These dots of light appeared to move slightly as they were projected-though exactly how far they moved the participants couldn't say. When asked to estimate the distance that the light traveled, participants tended to look to others in the room, and ask them what they thought (not because they wanted to gain others' approval, but because they assumed that others knew more than they did). It would therefore be MOST accurate to say that participants' final estimates were based on ____.

Accepted Answer

Participants' final estimates were based on informational influence, meaning they looked to others for information because they assumed others knew more than they did.

Question 12

Mark has been attending a Bible study with friends from his dorm. After several months of attending and debating issues with the others in this group, Mark is persuaded that their understanding of the Bible is the correct one. Mark has most likely experienced ____.

Accepted Answer

Private acceptance refers to a change in an individual's personal beliefs, attitudes, or values as a result of being exposed to persuasive messages and arguments. In this scenario, Mark has been attending a Bible study and engaging in debates with others, leading him to be persuaded that their interpretation of the Bible is correct. This suggests that he has undergone a true change in his beliefs, rather than simply conforming publicly (as in the case of public compliance) or being influenced by the opinions of others (as in the case of normative influence or the autokinetic effect).

Question 13

In an early study conducted by Stanley Schachter, research participants were asked to discuss the case of supposed juvenile delinquent named Johnny Rocco. Each discussion group consisted of five real participants and three confederates-a "mode" confederate (who adopted the majority viewpoint), a "deviant" confederate (who held extreme views that were different from the majority viewpoint), and a "slider" (who started out extreme, but eventually adopted the majority viewpoint). When participants were asked, at the end of the discussion, to "vote one group member out of the group," who was MOST often voted out?

Accepted Answer

The "deviant" confederate, who held extreme views that were different from the majority viewpoint, was most often voted out by research participants. This is likely due to the discomfort and pressure caused by the deviant's differing opinions and potential to disrupt group cohesion.

Question 14

Given Asch's line-judging studies on conformity, it appears that people engage in normative conformity ____ when in the presence of larger groups (groups of 3-7 people) as opposed to smaller groups (groups of 2-3 people).

Accepted Answer

Asch's studies on conformity showed that people were more likely to engage in normative conformity (conforming to fit in with the group) when in the presence of larger groups, as opposed to smaller groups. In fact, when there were three or more confederates in the group, conformity rates increased dramatically. Therefore, people engage in normative conformity more often when in the presence of larger groups.

Question 15

If you look at a pinpoint of light in a dark room, the light appears to move even though it is in fact stationary. This illusion of movement is called the ____ effect.

Accepted Answer

The autokinetic effect is a phenomenon where a stationary point of light appears to move in a dark room. This illusion of movement is caused by small eye movements that are constantly occurring, which make it difficult for the brain to perceive a fixed point.

Question 16

Informational social influence helps to produce ____, while normative social influence may merely elicit ____.

Accepted Answer

Informational social influence leads to private acceptance of social norms and beliefs, while normative social influence often only elicits public compliance with group norms in order to fit in and avoid rejection, without necessarily changing personal beliefs.

Question 17

In Asch's line-judging studies on conformity, it was found that conformity declined when ____.

Accepted Answer

Asch found that when there was a "dissenter" in the group who always gave the correct response, conformity declined significantly. This suggests that the presence of even one person who is willing to go against the group can greatly reduce the effects of conformity pressure.

Question 18

Suppose that you are on a committee, deciding how to allocate budget for the year. And suppose that many people on the committee seem to just be "going along with the crowd" rather than expressing their opinions or concerns. Based on Asch's line-judging research on conformity, if you wanted to encourage more dissent and debate in the group then you should ____.

Accepted Answer

According to Asch's research, when one person disagrees with the group, it can encourage others to also express their dissenting opinions. By playing "devil's advocate" and expressing disagreement with the majority view, it may encourage others on the committee to express their opinions and concerns as well, leading to more debate and discussion.

Question 19

The tendency to assume that others know more than you do in a crisis or ambiguous situation, when in reality, no one knows anything, is called ____.

Accepted Answer

Pluralistic ignorance is the tendency to assume that others know more or understand the situation better than you do, especially in ambiguous or crisis situations. This can lead to a situation where everyone is hesitant to take action or speak out, because they assume that others already know what to do, when in reality, no one actually knows.

Question 20

Social psychologists use the term ____ to refer to beliefs and behaviors that a group of people accept as normal.

Accepted Answer

Group norms refer to the beliefs and behaviors that are accepted as normal within a group. These norms can influence individual behavior and can vary between different groups. Social psychologists study the formation and influence of group norms to better understand social behavior.

Quiz 8: Social Influence and Persuasion