Exam 1: Introducing Social Psychology

Tom saw a weight-loss program advertised on late-night television. The ad claimed that deep breathing exercises would speed up metabolism, causing people to lose weight. He mailed a check for $99.95. When the plan arrived, Tom rearranged his day so that he could complete the breathing exercises as scheduled. They made him nauseated and dizzy, and before long, Tom's friends began to think that he was going overboard with the program, and they began to avoid him. After the end of the ten-week program, Tom got on the scale and saw that he hadn't lost an ounce! Still, he remained enthusiastic and thought, "I may not have lost any weight, but I feel so much healthier!" This situation is best explained by

According to the authors of your text, why did behaviorists not incorporate cognition, thinking, and feeling into their theory?

Which of the following statements is not consistent with the social cognition approach to social psychology?

Social psychologists differ from sociologists in that social psychologists

Thomas is scrupulously honest when it comes to not cheating on his tests and papers, but when a cashier accidentally gives him back too much change, he is likely to keep the extra money. A social psychologist would most likely say that Thomas's behavior

Jamal was confused by his sister's relationship with her boyfriend. They just didn't seem to have anything in common. "Oh well," Jamal figured, "I guess opposites really do attract." Jamal's explanation is an example of

The authors of your text suggest that in the 1930s and 1940s, the most influential person in social psychology was

Based on your text's account of research on self-fulfilling prophecies, explain why some children in a class might perform better than others even if the children are all of similar ability levels.

Social psychologists tend to be more focused on ________, and personality psychologists tend to focus more on ________.

Curtailing the spread of AIDS by using scary television ads to frighten people into practicing safe sex is unlikely to work because

What is the role of folk wisdom in social psychology?

Which of the following is false with regard to cross-cultural research in social psychology? Social psychologists

Amber and Jules are friends but differ in how neat they keep their rooms. According to personality psychologists, the distinction between the friends can be referred to as a(n)

What is the take-home message of the authors' description of the presidents' decisions to continue and even escalate wars?

Ross and colleagues (2004) randomly assigned participants previously identified as cooperative or competitive to play a game that was labeled either the "Wall Street Game" or the "Community Game." If their results had indicated that, no matter what the game, participants who were identified as competitive behaved more competitively in both groups than did participants who were identified as cooperative, these findings would have suggested that

Shanika is an executive, and asked her assistant repeatedly to make some copies for her. The assistant repeatedly failed to successfully complete the assignment. If Shanika is thinking like a social psychologist about this situation, what is she most likely to think about her assistant?

How would a social psychologist explain the results of Rosenthal and Jacobson's (1968) study, in which erroneous teacher expectations changed the behaviors of their students?

Assil has an educated guess about the social behavior of teenagers when their high school team wins the football game. That means that she has a(n) ______ about how the teens behave.

Last weekend, Paula smiled politely while Lance talked to her for several hours. Wow, thinks Lance to himself, she was so nice; Paula must really like me-she was so friendly! Lance's interpretation of Paula's behavior is an example of

Lee Ross describes the idea of "naïve realism" as the