Question 1

Who is most likely to convince him- or herself that he or she believes in the behavior he or she is performing?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Who is most likely to convince him-...

Question 2

Megan is always reminding her son Andrew not to talk with his mouth full.One morning,Andrew reminds her not to talk with her mouth full.This situation most resembles ____.

Accepted Answer

The situation described is an example of the hypocrisy paradigm, where a person is advocating for a behavior but does not adhere to it themselves. Megan is reminding Andrew not to talk with his mouth full, but when Andrew points out that Megan is also talking with her mouth full, he is highlighting the hypocrisy in her behavior.

Question 3

According to your authors,threats of severe punishment ultimately teach people

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to your authors,threats of severe punishment...

Question 4

According to dissonance theorists,what is the problem with severe punishment to control behaviors? Severe punishment

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to dissonance theorists,what is the problem...

Question 5

According to dissonance theorists,the practice of threatening mild punishment works because it arouses ____ cognitive dissonance and therefore causes ____.

Accepted Answer

Dissonance theorists suggest that threatening mild punishment creates a level of cognitive dissonance, or discomfort, within an individual's mind. The discomfort arises because the individual's actions do not align with their beliefs or values. This discomfort can lead to a change in attitude toward the forbidden act in an attempt to reduce the dissonance. Therefore, the correct answer is C: much cognitive dissonance and a change in attitude toward the forbidden act.

Question 6

Threats of severe punishment are not likely to change behaviors in the absence of the person who punishes,because such severe threats provide

Accepted Answer

Threats of severe punishment may provide external justification for halting the undesirable behavior in the presence of the person who punishes, but in their absence, there is no longer any external pressure to continue halting the behavior. Therefore, the behavior may resume.

Question 7

Jacob recently was late to a meeting because of a traffic jam.Later that day,when his wife is late arriving home,Jacob is probably going to be ____ based on the idea of the hypocrisy induction.

Accepted Answer

The hypocrisy induction suggests that people may be more forgiving of others' behaviors if they themselves have exhibited similar behaviors in the past. In this case, because Jacob was late to a meeting earlier in the day due to circumstances outside of his control, he may be more understanding and forgiving of his wife's late arrival home. Therefore, choice D (forgiving) is the best option.

Question 8

Jennifer's dad wants to convince her to do her homework as soon as she gets home from school.To ensure that Jennifer actually does her homework immediately-whether or not he is there to keep an eye on her- Jennifer's dad should provide

Accepted Answer

Mild threats of punishment can be an effective motivator for behavior change without creating a high-stress environment or relying on external rewards that may not always motivate in the long term.

Question 9

The local police want to convince drivers to obey the fifty-five mile per hour speed limit on the highways.The police chief is convinced that doubling speeding fines is the answer.You've just read the section of Chapter 6 that deals with insufficient punishment.What would you say to him?

Accepted Answer

Simply increasing fines may not be enough to change drivers' attitudes about obeying the speed limit. Research has shown that people are more likely to obey laws when they believe the punishment is fair and that the odds of getting caught are high. Doubling fines may be seen as unfair by some drivers, and if officers do not enforce the speed limits consistently, the "severe punishment" will not be "swift and certain." A more comprehensive approach, such as increasing patrols and using technology like speed cameras, may be necessary to effectively change drivers' behavior.

Question 10

When preschoolers were forbidden to play with a very attractive toy,some received mild threats of punishment,and others received severe threats of punishment should they disobey (Aronson & Carlsmith,1963).Because they had ____,children in the mild threat condition experienced ____,and changed their rating of the forbidden toy.

Accepted Answer

Children in the mild threat condition had insufficient external justification for not playing with the toy, leading to more cognitive dissonance, which they resolved by changing their attitude towards the toy.

Question 11

Based on research by Aronson and Carlsmith (1963)in which children were threatened with either mild or severe punishment for playing with a forbidden toy,which of the following situations would make a child most want to play with a toy?

Accepted Answer

Aronson and Carlsmith's research showed that when children were threatened with severe punishment for playing with a forbidden toy, they were actually more likely to want to play with it. This is because the threat of severe punishment creates psychological reactance, which is a desire to resist the control of others and assert one's own freedom. Therefore, the most effective way to make a child want to play with a toy is to forbid them from doing so and threaten severe punishment if they do.

Question 12

If you wanted to make use of the concept of insufficient punishment,how would you discipline your child when she's misbehaving? Give the child a stern look and tell her

Accepted Answer

In order to make use of the concept of insufficient punishment, the discipline should be minimal and not overly harsh. Giving a stern look and promising a reward if the child stops the misbehavior can be more effective than threatening physical punishment or limiting chances to improve behavior. Option B offers a simple and straightforward solution to the misbehavior that is not overly harsh, making it the best choice.

Question 13

Mahmoud wants his seven-year-old daughter to learn that littering is bad.According to cognitive dissonance theory,how should Mahmoud teach his daughter not to be a litterbug? Mahmoud should

Accepted Answer

According to cognitive dissonance theory, the best way to change attitudes and beliefs is to create a sense of discomfort or dissonance in the individual. By giving a stern look, Mahmoud can create a sense of discomfort in his daughter when she litters, which can then lead to a change in her behavior and attitude towards littering. Positive reinforcement methods like giving ice cream or increasing allowance may work in the short term but may not necessarily lead to a long-term change in behavior or attitude. Yelling and screaming can also be counterproductive and may have negative effects on the child's emotional development.

Question 14

Derek likes to bully his little brother Matt.Their mother begins to give Derek the mild punishment of a stern look every time Derek hits Matt.This is sufficient to stop Derek's bullying,and in time,Derek stops bullying Matt even when his mother is not around.According to theories of insufficient punishment,why might this happen?

Accepted Answer

The theory of insufficient punishment suggests that when the external punishment for an undesirable behavior is mild (insufficient), individuals do not have enough external justification for changing their behavior. Instead, they may change their internal attitudes to align with their behavior. In Derek's case, the mild punishment (a stern look) did not provide a strong external reason to stop bullying. Therefore, to resolve the internal dissonance, Derek might have internally devalued the act of bullying, leading to a genuine change in behavior.

Question 15

Because they provide the potential offender ____,threats of harsh punishment seldom produce positive attitude change.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Because they provide the potential offender ____,threats...

Question 16

In an experiment by Takaku (2006)on road rage,when drivers went through a driving simulation in which they accidentally cut off another driver,then were cut off themselves,they were quicker to

Accepted Answer

The experiment showed that experiencing a similar situation themselves made drivers more empathetic and understanding, leading them to forgive the other driver more quickly.

Question 17

According to the principle of insufficient punishment,which of the following parental techniques should be most effective in changing a child's behavior permanently (i.e.,even behavior that occurs in the absence of the parent)?

Accepted Answer

According to the principle of insufficient punishment, when punishment is too severe, it can result in the child hiding the behavior rather than changing it permanently, and when punishment is too mild or non-existent, the child may not feel motivated to change their behavior. Therefore, the threat of mild punishment should be the most effective in changing a child's behavior permanently as it provides enough motivation for the child to want to avoid the punishment, but not so much that it causes fear or hiding of the behavior. Ignoring the behavior may actually reinforce it by giving the child attention, while the threat of severe punishment can lead to fear and hiding of the behavior.

Question 18

Recall that Elliot Aronson and J.Merrill Carlsmith (1963)told preschoolers that they were not allowed to play with a toy that the children had already rated as more attractive than other toys.Half of the children were threatened with mild punishment if they disobeyed,and the other half with severe punishment.When the experimenter left the room,none of the children played with the forbidden toy.When the experimenter returned and asked the children to rate all the toys again,those children who received

Accepted Answer

The children who received mild threats reduced their dissonance by rating the forbidden toy as less attractive than before. This is consistent with the theory of cognitive dissonance, which suggests that when our actions go against our beliefs or attitudes, we experience dissonance and seek to reduce it by changing our beliefs or attitudes. In this case, the children who were threatened with mild punishment for disobeying likely experienced dissonance between their desire to play with the forbidden toy (which they previously rated as more attractive) and their belief that it is wrong to do so. To reduce this dissonance, they may have changed their belief about the toy and rated it as less attractive than before.

Question 19

According to the authors of your text,the arousal of dissonance by having individuals make statements that run against their behaviors and then reminding them of this inconsistency is

Accepted Answer

Hypocrisy induction involves making individuals aware of the inconsistency between their statements and behaviors, thereby arousing cognitive dissonance to encourage behavior change.

Question 20

Suppose that Derek kept bullying his brother,even when his mother gave him the mild punishment of a stern look.Which of the following is most likely to happen,according to dissonance theory?

Accepted Answer

According to dissonance theory, individuals feel discomfort when their behavior does not align with their attitudes or beliefs. In this case, Derek's attitude may be that bullying is wrong, but his behavior is still bullying his brother even after being given a mild punishment. To reduce this discomfort, Derek may increase his interest in bullying his brother to justify why he continued to do so even when punished. This is known as dissonance reduction.

Quiz 6: The Need to Justify Our Actions: the Costs and Benefits of Dissonance Reduction