Exam 1: Introducing Social Psychology

Ted likes Jim and smiles at him every chance he gets. Jim wonders why Ted is always smirking at him sarcastically and studiously avoids him. Ted thinks he's being friendly and cannot understand Jim's standoffishness; Jim thinks Ted is a jerk for continuing to smirk at him without explanation. This difference illustrates the role of ________ in explaining social behavior.

Few would disagree that human aggression is a very pressing social problem that leads to violent criminal acts, and that it is important to understand the causes of aggression before we can intervene to reduce it. How would a social psychologist approach this phenomenon? How would a social psychologist's approach differ from the approach of a personality psychologist or a sociologist?

Explain what the role of common sense is (and is not) in social psychology.

Leslie cannot say "no" to anyone. Consequently she takes on too much, and doesn't fulfill her commitments as promptly as she might. Assume that when asked to explain these behaviors, Leslie is motivated to be accurate in her self-perceptions. What would she be most likely to say?

At a dinner party, Marcia spilled wine on her boss's Persian rug. If Marcia is like most social psychologists who study construals, what will she ask herself in predicting how her boss will respond?

A personality psychologist would probably explain the suicides at Jonestown by focusing on the

When social psychologists do research, they seek to answer questions with experimentation and measurement. By doing so, they are asking _______ questions.

The major difference between sociology and social psychology is the

Nanami and April were playing in the den when April's mother entered the room and scolded them for making a mess. Nanami decided then and there that April's mother was a grouch. Nanami's inference is an example of

Complete the following analogy, based on information from your text: behaviorism: ________:: Gestalt psychology: ________.

In the introduction to Chapter 1, you read about a number of social phenomena: a young man broadcast his suicide live online; a father and son disagreed on the attractiveness of the same fraternity; and more than 800 people committed mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. What do these examples have in common? They

Dr. Diehl and Dr. Jzreck both study aggression. However, Dr. Diehl studies the topic from the standpoint of society at large; Dr. Jrzeck studies it from the standpoint of the individual. Who is most likely to be the social psychologist?

Why is a scientific approach preferable to reliance on folk wisdom and common sense?

Human beings are often motivated to construe themselves and the social world accurately. The ________ approach is based on this assumption.

What do the fundamental attribution error and the self-fulfilling prophecy have in common?

Which of the following social phenomena would be of interest to both social psychologists and sociologists?

Which of the following is the best illustration of a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Spinoza (1663) proposed the idea that when you love someone whom you used to hate, you

One common goal of sociology and social psychology is to understand

Which of the following is an example of a direct persuasion attempt?