Exam 1: Introduction to Social Psychology

Evolutionary perspective pays particular attention to the following social processes, except:

For the third time in a month, Jason needs to cancel his dinner plans with his boyfriend, Dustin, due to a problem at work.Before he calls to give the bad news, he imagines how the different explanations and apologies he could offer might appear to Dustin, and how Dustin might react.Jason is engaging in a process called _____________.

The definition of social psychology contains three main components.Identify and briefly explain, in your own words, each component.

The idea that frustration leads to aggression is an example of a middle-range theory.

Social psychologists have five core concerns.Identify and give examples for three of the five concerns.

One drawback of cognitive phenomena is that we must infer them from what people say and do, which makes it difficult to conduct definitive tests of theoretical predictions from cognitive theory.However, recent methodological advances are beginning to make direct observation of cognitive phenomena possible.

Schemas are important in social relations because _____________.

"Student" and "member of the orchestra" are both role identities.

In order for a relationship to have equity, both parties must experience the same amount of rewards and costs.

Belinda researches an intentional community that does not use paper money.Instead, members trade and barter their time, skills, and goods.Using a group processes theoretical perspective, Belinda may pay attention to which of the following in her analysis:

Leah is meeting Robert at a local coffee shop for a blind date.She arrives early and quickly notices that the other patrons are either women, or older men-too old to be her date.She sits facing the door and waits for Robert to arrive.She gives careful consideration to each man that walks through the door in an effort to determine if she should approach him or not.This is best considered an example of _____________.

Cognitive theory argues that cognitive processes intervene between external stimuli and behavioral responses.

Every Thanksgiving Marisa's uncles get into an argument over politics.One identifies as a Democrat, the other as a Republican.It's not uncommon for the disagreements to spill over into other, non-political topics, with each uncle making assumptions about the other and exaggerating differences between them based on their political party identifications.Thinking back on her social psychology class, Marisa thinks that _____________would help her most in understanding her uncles' frustrating behavior.

Carlos is a summer camp counselor.He's noticed that his campers seem to have developed a system for determining who gets access to resources like the basketball or tennis courts first, how long each camper gets to use the resource, and who has to carry the bag of supplies back and forth.He's interested in how this system emerged, what the system is, and if it results in campers feeling unfairly burdened or left out.Thinking back to his social psychology class, he makes a list of concepts that might help him understand the boys' behavior.Which of the following would be the least useful?

Limitations of evolutionary approaches to social psychology include _____________.