Deck 8: Social Influence and Persuasion

Question 1

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 ____.

A) normative influence
B) informational influence
C) implicit social norms
D) elaboration likelihood

Answer 1

informational influence

Question 2

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

A) private acceptance; public compliance
B) public conformity; private acceptance
C) pluralistic ignorance; the bystander effect
D) the bystander effect; pluralistic ignorance

Answer 2

private acceptance; public compliance

Question 3

Suppose that you are on a committee that is deciding how to allocate the yearly budget. 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, you can encourage more dissent and debate in the group by ____.

A) making sure that the group consists of no fewer than five people
B) playing "devil's advocate" and disagree with the majority view
C) finding a way to have same-sex group members meet separately
D) providing the group with a common bond and strong group identity

Answer 3

playing "devil's advocate" and disagree with the majority view

Question 4

In one study, 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 ____.

A) agreed with the group ("mode")
B) disagreed with the group ("deviant")
C) originally agreed and then came to disagree with the group ("lost soul")
D) disagreed and then came to agree with the group ("slider")

Question 5

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 ____.

A) group norms
B) an autokinetic effect
C) a sleeper effect
D) an omega strategy

Question 6

Two types of situations tend to produce informational influence: ____.

A) ambiguous situations and situations where people seek social approval
B) ambiguous situations and crisis situations
C) non-ambiguous (clear-cut) situations and situations where people seek social approval
D) non-ambiguous (clear-cut) situations and crisis situations

Question 7

Which factor would make you relatively MORE likely to conform in a group situation?

A) You are good at the task at hand.
B) There are no experts in the group.
C) The other members of the group are not important to you.
D) The group is medium-sized (5-7 people) rather than small (2-3 people).

Question 8

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

A) implicit and explicit
B) social and cultural
C) normative and informational
D) internal and external

Question 9

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 ____.

A) pluralistic ignorance
B) group norms
C) labeling
D) persuasion

Question 10

Asch's line-judging studies on conformity suggests that people engage in normative conformity ____ when in the presence of larger groups (groups of three to seven people) as opposed to smaller groups (groups of two to three people).

A) more often
B) about as frequently
C) slightly less often
D) far less often

Question 11

Samuela never pays attention in class or studies, and 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 ____.

A) normative influence
B) informational influence
C) implicit social norms
D) elaboration likelihood

Question 12

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

A) private acceptance
B) public compliance
C) persuasion
D) repetition with variation

Question 13

Which scenario best illustrates someone soliciting information, and as a result, being affected by informational influence?

A) A man is interested in buying a pickup truck, and goes online to different truck blogs and websites to gather information. He uses this information to help guide his decision-making about what trucks to test drive.
B) A teenager asks her friends if they like a certain store. When they say yes, she declares that she likes it too, because she wants to seem cool.
C) A professor asks her students whether they believe there are instances in which genocide is "justified." She listens to their opinions and corrects them when they make inaccurate statements about history.
D) A father asks his seven-year-old how she knows that it's dinnertime (he is testing her ability to read Roman numerals on the kitchen clock). When she explains what some of the numerals mean, he nods appreciably and pretends to have learned something.

Question 14

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 ____.

A) the autokinetic effect
B) the sleeper effect
C) pluralistic ignorance
D) yielding

Question 15

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

A) central beliefs
B) peripheral beliefs
C) group norms
D) yielding information

Question 16

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.

A) autokinetic
B) omega
C) sleeper
D) visual pique

Question 17

In one study, 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?

A) the "mode" confederate
B) the "deviant" confederate
C) the "slider" confederate
D) both "slider" and "deviant" confederates (equally)

Question 18

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

A) the so-called sleeper effect
B) why convert communicators are so effective
C) how alpha and omega strategies work
D) informational influence and the formation of group norms

Question 19

Mark has been attending a religious 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 sacred text is the correct one. Mark has most likely experienced ____.

A) private acceptance
B) public compliance
C) the autokinetic effect
D) normative influence

Question 20

Asch's line-judging studies on conformity found that conformity declined when ____.

A) groups were closer in age rather than diverse
B) a "dissenter" in the group always gave an incorrect response
C) a "dissenter" in the group always gave the correct response
D) groups were mixed-sex rather than all-male

Question 21

The low-ball technique operates, at least partially, on the principle of ____.

A) reciprocity
B) consistency
C) confusion
D) scarcity

Question 22

In one study, one group of homeowners was asked if they would put a small sign on their doors that said, "BE A SAFE DRIVER." Another group of homeowners was not asked to display this sign. Then, a few weeks later, everyone in both groups was asked if a large, poorly lettered sign stating, "DRIVE CAREFULLY," could be displayed in their yard. Most people who had received and granted the first request were quite willing to have the larger sign in their yard. In contrast, those who had not had the first request with the small sign tended to say "no" to displaying the larger sign. This study was about which social influence technique?

A) foot-in-the-door
B) low-balling
C) bait-and-switch
D) labeling

Question 23

Which social influence technique is based on commitment and consistency?

A) the door-in-the-face technique
B) the pique technique
C) the disrupt-then-reframe technique
D) the foot-in-the-door technique

Question 24

Suppose that you are having a garage sale, and have decided to negotiate with buyers rather than display fixed prices. Your technique is to quote an astronomically high price (e.g., $500 for a broken exercise bicycle), and then "bargain" by coming down to a lower, more reasonable price. You hope that the lower price will then appear to be supremely fair. You are apparently using the ____.

A) foot-in-the-door technique
B) door-in-the-face technique
C) disrupt-then-reframe technique
D) that's-not-all technique

Question 25

According to the text, one good way of defending oneself against persuasive endeavors that are based on the principles of commitment and consistency is to ____.

A) state your personal beliefs publicly prior to the attempted persuasion
B) pay attention to signs of social proofing
C) engage in psychological reactance
D) act based on the norm of reciprocity during the attempted persuasion

Question 26

An apartment manager lists a "luxury penthouse" in the newspaper for an astoundingly low price, even though he has no such units available. The idea is to lure people in, and then try to sell them his relatively mediocre apartments. The manager is apparently using an influence technique known as the ____.

A) foot-in-the-door technique
B) bait-and-switch technique
C) legitimization-of-paltry-favors technique
D) disrupt-then-reframe technique

Question 27

The so-called ____ is based on consistency, in which one assigns a tag to an individual and then requests a favor that is consistent with that tag.

A) labeling technique
B) pique technique
C) disrupt-then-reframe technique
D) legitimization-of-paltry-favors technique

Question 28

Private acceptance of a belief tends to be facilitated by ____ rather than by ____.

A) informational influence; normative influence
B) normative influence; informational influence
C) pluralistic ignorance; diffusion of responsibility
D) diffusion of responsibility; pluralistic ignorance

Question 29

According to the text, which influence techniques have historically been most used by car salespeople?

A) the foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face techniques
B) the low-ball and bait-and-switch techniques
C) the legitimization-of-paltry-favors and disrupt-then-reframe techniques
D) the pique and labeling techniques

Question 30

Which principle(s) best explains why adding "even a penny will help" will increase the success of fundraising requests?

A) commitment and consistency
B) scarcity
C) capturing and disrupting attention
D) reciprocity

Question 31

The ____ is based on commitment, wherein the influencer first gets a person to comply with a seemingly low-cost request and only later reveals hidden additional costs to the person.

A) labeling technique
B) legitimization-of-paltry-favors technique
C) foot-in-the-door technique
D) low-ball technique

Question 32

Which pair of social influence techniques are both based on the principle of reciprocation?

A) the disrupt-then-reframe technique and the pique technique
B) the that's not all technique and the pique technique
C) the door-in-the-face technique and the that's not all technique
D) the foot-in-the-door technique and the door-in-the-face technique

Question 33

Carlos is a freelance graphic designer. Last month, a client hired him to design a website, at a flat rate of $1000. Carlos met with the client numerous times to sketch out the project, and engaged in a fair amount of background research. Just as he was getting ready to sign a contract for the job, the client mentioned, "Oh, by the way, I also need you to design three catalog covers under your contract." Even though Carlos would never design a website AND three catalog covers for just $1000, he had already invested so much time and energy in this client that he ended up just saying yes to everything. Carlos told his friends that he was "tricked" by the client. Social psychologists would say that he was a victim of the ____.

A) legitimization-of-paltry-favors technique
B) low-ball technique
C) labeling technique
D) foot-in-the-door technique

Question 34

The door-in-the-face technique starts with a(n) ____.

A) inflated request
B) small request
C) concession
D) discount

Question 35

People who are told that they are "generous souls" are more likely to donate money to charity than people who are not. Similarly, people who are told that they are "stylish and cutting edge" are more likely to be persuaded to buy new trendy items in a store. Salespeople who capitalize on this technique are using the ____.

A) labeling technique
B) pique technique
C) disrupt-then-reframe technique
D) legitimization-of-paltry-favors technique

Question 36

Your cousin asks you to pledge $5.00 for a school charity one year. The next year, she asks you to pledge $20.00. And the following year she asks you to pledge $50.00. Even though you would have never agreed to pledge $50.00 the first year, her "gradual buildup approach" is successful. In social psychology, this approach to persuasion is known as the ____.

A) bait-and-switch technique
B) low-ball technique
C) labeling technique
D) foot-in-the-door technique

Question 37

The so-called foot-in-the-door technique is MOST related, conceptually speaking, to ____.

A) the idea of cognitive dissonance
B) attribution theory
C) the notion of normative social influence
D) social identity theory

Question 38

Preceding a request to someone with a smaller request to which they are very likely to agree is a good way to get them to say yes to the second, more important request. This strategy is known as the ____.

A) foot-in-the-door technique
B) low-ball technique
C) bait-and-switch technique
D) labeling technique

Question 39

Which social influence technique is based on reciprocation?

A) the labeling technique
B) the pique technique
C) the door-in-the-face technique
D) the foot-in-the-door technique

Question 40

The labeling technique is most related, conceptually speaking, to the idea of ____.

A) pluralistic ignorance
B) the social allergy effect
C) the self-fulfilling prophecy
D) diffusion of responsibility

Question 41

The fast-approaching-deadline technique is a persuasive technique based upon the principle of ____.

A) scarcity
B) reciprocity
C) disruption and reframing
D) consistency

Question 42

How can individuals best defend themselves against social influence techniques based on scarcity?

A) by stating their position publicly
B) by not feel obligated to repay a favor
C) by trying to calm down
D) by engaging in a debate

Question 43

Vince is trying to pick up a woman at a bar. Instead of approaching her with a boring "standard line" (e.g., "Can I buy you a drink?"), he tries something new. He asks, "Can I buy you a diamond?" Even though he has no intention of buying the woman a diamond (at least not right away), he hopes that this will capture her attention. Social psychologists would say that Vince is using the ____ social influence technique.

A) legitimization-of-paltry-favors
B) labeling
C) disrupt-and-reframe
D) pique

Question 44

Social psychologists who study persuasion use the term "source" to refer to the ____.

A) individual who delivers a message
B) core reason why a person is persuaded
C) starting point of a persuasive argument
D) data, or information, used to back up a persuasive argument

Question 45

A large furniture store puts an advertisement in the Sunday paper stating that a sale will occur on a holiday weekend and only for that weekend. Which social influence strategy is being used?

A) limited-number technique
B) fast-approaching deadline
C) pique technique
D) disrupt-then-reframe technique

Question 46

Which social influence technique is based on capturing and disrupting attention?

A) the labeling technique
B) the bait-and-switch
C) the door-in-the-face technique
D) the disrupt-then-reframe technique

Question 47

The social influence technique known as the pique technique operates ____.

A) according to the scarcity principle
B) by capturing and disrupting attention
C) based upon the consistency principle
D) based upon the reciprocity principle

Question 48

How can a person defend against social influence techniques based on capturing and disrupting attention?

A) by stating their position publicly
B) by being aware of the so-called favor and not feel obligated to repay it
C) by simply remaining calm and nonjudgmental
D) by attempting to pause the interaction and eliminate distractions

Question 49

When stores have only a few items out on display-as opposed to piles of items-the merchandise appears to be more valuable. This is probably due to the ____ principle.

A) reciprocity
B) consistency
C) commitment
D) scarcity

Question 50

Which social influence technique is based on capturing and disrupting attention?

A) The labeling technique
B) The bait-and-switch
C) The low-ball technique
D) The pique technique

Question 51

The that's-not-all technique operate based on the principle of ____.

A) reciprocal concessions and a sense of personal obligation
B) consistency and a sense of moral obligation to society
C) capturing and disrupting attention
D) scarcity and commodities

Question 52

An infomercial advertises a Swedish pillow for $49.99. The voiceover then announces, "But wait! If you call within the next thirty minutes, you will also receive a Swedish eye mask, valued at over $14.00, along with a pair of Swedish evening candles. And wait, we are now throwing in-for a limited time only-a special booklet of Swedish bedtime stories, all for just $49.99." This infomercial appears to be using the ____.

A) door-in-the-face technique
B) that's-not-all technique
C) pique technique
D) disrupt-then-reframe technique

Question 53

The limited-number technique is based upon the principle of ____.

A) scarcity
B) reciprocity
C) disruption and reframing
D) consistency

Question 54

People are more likely to buy cupcakes when they are described as "halfcakes, priced at a bargain price," as opposed to when they are simply described as "cupcakes." This is an example of people being influenced via the ____.

A) labeling technique
B) bait-and-switch
C) door-in-the-face technique
D) disrupt-then-reframe technique

Question 55

The earliest scientific studies in social psychology on persuasion were conducted by ____.

A) Leon Festinger
B) Carl Hovland
C) Elliot Aronson
D) Richard Petty

Question 56

Which term best describes an attempt to change a person's mind?

A) induction
B) manipulation
C) persuasion
D) assimilation

Question 57

Suppose that your friend Victor gives you a bottle of red wine for your birthday, and tells you that only 100 bottles of that wine exist in the world. Suddenly the wine seems very important and special. This would seem to be due to the ____ principle.

A) reciprocity
B) consistency
C) commitment
D) scarcity

Question 58

The ____ technique is a social influence technique in which the influencer interferes with a person's critical thinking by introducing an unexpected element, and then recasts his or her message in a positive light.

A) labeling
B) bait-and-switch
C) door-in-the-face
D) disrupt-then-reframe

Question 59

How can individuals defend themselves against social influence techniques that are based on reciprocation?

A) by stating their position publicly
B) by being aware of the so-called favor and not feel obligated to repay it
C) by simply remaining calm and nonjudgmental
D) by attempting to pause the interaction and eliminate distractions

Question 60

Instead of using the standard queries-"Spare any change?" or "Spare a dollar?"-a homeless person asks passerby, "Spare four hundred dollars and thirty-seven cents?" She is apparently making use of the ____ technique of social influence.

A) door-in-the-face
B) labeling
C) foot-in-the-door
D) pique

Question 61

Even though most people say that they voted for Barack Obama because of his policies, some people may have voted for him because he is physically attractive. This illustrates ____.

A) the halo effect
B) the sleeper effect
C) the autokinetic effect
D) pluralistic ignorance

Question 62

Joe is a freshman at Princeton University. All else being equal, who will be most persuasive to him based on the principles of source likeability?

A) Jill, a freshman at University of Washington
B) John, a senior at Harvard
C) Jennifer, a medical student at University of Illinois
D) Jordan, a freshman at Princeton University

Question 63

As part of a tenth-grade "Social Living" course, a teacher has a guest speaker come to his classroom to talk about the dangers of drug use. The guest speaker is a former drug dealer and hardcore drug user, who became involved in crime as a result of his connection to drugs, spent many years in jail, later entered a drug rehabilitation program, and finally cleaned up his act. Social psychologists would refer to this kind of communicator as a(n) ____.

A) sleeper source
B) convert communicator
C) normative communicator
D) implicit source

Question 64

Research suggests that there are two main factors that make a source credible: ____.

A) trustworthiness and likeability
B) likeability and expertise
C) expertise and trustworthiness
D) similarity and expertise

Question 65

Social psychologists use the term "convert communicator" to refer to ____.

A) people who persuade others by arguing against their own previously-held attitudes and behaviors
B) people who specialize in persuading those who are extremely opposed to their point of view
C) people who persuade others by beginning with one argument and then "switching" the argument midstream
D) people who persuade others by pretending to hold an opposite point of view, and then being "converted" during the course of the argument

Question 66

Social psychologists who talk about a persuasive communicator as being "trustworthy" are referring to ____.

A) whether the source will honestly share what she or he knows
B) how much the source knows
C) whether the source is a well-known individual
D) how confident and authoritative the source appears to be

Question 67

Communications that are fear-based (e.g., messages about the dangers of smoking) are not always effective. They tend to be most effective when they elicit ____, and least effective when they elicit ____.

A) moderate levels of fear; low or high levels of fear
B) low levels of fear; moderate or high levels of fear
C) high levels of fear; low or moderate levels of fear
D) low or moderate levels of fear; high levels of fear

Question 68

What does research suggest about the influence of physical attractiveness? Does it have an impact on our routine everyday actions (e.g., whether to assist strangers who ask favors)? What about actions that are relatively important to people (e.g., which politician they vote for)?

A) Attractiveness does not seem to matter nearly as much as people think it does.
B) Attractiveness matters for small things, but does not seem to matter much for things that are relatively important to people.
C) Ironically, attractiveness seems to have an impact on things that are relatively important to people, but does not seem to matter much for small things.
D) Attractiveness seems to have an impact both on small things and on things that are relatively important to people.

Question 69

As part of a tenth-grade "Social Living" course, a teacher has a guest speaker come to his classroom to talk about the dangers of drug use. The guest speaker is a former hardcore drug user, who became involved in serious criminal behavior as a result of his use, spent many years in jail, later entered a drug rehabilitation program, and finally cleaned up his act. All things being equal, is the guest speaker likely to be more effective or less effective than the teacher would have been at communicating the dangers of drug use?

A) much less effective
B) slightly less effective
C) about the same
D) somewhat more effective

Question 70

Research suggests that experts are NOT persuasive unless they are also ____.

A) trustworthy
B) likeable
C) similar to the person they are talking to
D) converts (people who formally believed in an opposing point of view)

Question 71

The sleeper effect refers to the finding that, over time, ____.

A) people tend to become more and more stubborn about their opinions (and less easily persuaded to adopt alternative points of view)
B) people tend to become more open to, or accepting of, persuasive arguments that they hear repeatedly
C) people tend to become inoculated against (better able to counter-argue) persuasive arguments that they hear repeatedly
D) people tend to forget where (or from whom) they heard a persuasive argument or piece of information

Question 72

Meg is an extremely attractive woman. Because of this, people often expect her to be very smart and pleasant as well. Thus, Meg likely benefits because of the ____ effect of her physical attractiveness.

A) legitimization
B) pluralistic ignorance
C) sleeper
D) halo

Question 73

Suppose that you are a tenth-grade teacher, with an upcoming course module on the health risks of unprotected sex. Which individual would probably be the best guest speaker for your course-in terms of their ability to persuade students to act responsibly and actually impact students' behavior?

A) A local social worker, who routinely gives public lectures about the dangers of unsafe sex
B) A high school dropout who became pregnant and contracted an STD at the age of 16, and who now sorely regrets her irresponsible sexual behavior
C) A parent of one of the students who is a staunch advocate against teen sex
D) The student president of the "No Sex Before Marriage" campus group who is known by many of the students

Question 74

According to the text, public health messages that are fear-based (e.g., messages about the dangers of smoking) are not always effective. They most often backfire because ____.

A) they tend to be too scary, causing people to become defensive
B) people don't believe in the media anymore
C) people don't like to be put in a bad mood
D) most people are already well-educated about important public health issues

Question 75

Social psychologists who talk about a persuasive communicator as having "expertise" are referring to ____.

A) whether the source will honestly share what she or he knows
B) how much the source knows
C) whether the source is a well-known individual
D) how confident and authoritative the source appears to be

Question 76

The tendency to be persuaded by others who are similar to us, or who are physically attractive, illustrates the importance of ____.

A) source credibility
B) source trustworthiness
C) source likeability
D) the central route to persuasion

Question 77

Suppose that you work for the advertising division of a car company, and that you and your team are reviewing advertisements for a new safety feature. You are deciding between an ad with a low-fear message (which simply mentions the feature without demonstrating it), an ad with a moderate-fear message (which shows how the feature can help drivers avert accidents), and an ad with a high-fear message (which shows a horrific collision resulting from driving in a car without the feature). All else being equal, research on fear-based messaging would suggest that you should air ____.

A) the low-fear ad
B) the high-fear ad
C) the moderate-fear ad
D) either the low-fear ad or the high-fear ad, but not the moderate-fear ad

Question 78

The finding that, over time, people tend to separate messages from their sources-and forget where or from whom they heard certain things-is known as the ____.

A) omega effect
B) sleeper effect
C) discontinuity effect
D) boomerang effect

Question 79

Kirby thinks that her professor is tremendously smart and knows a lot. Which element of source credibility is this?

A) trustworthiness
B) likeability
C) expertise
D) receptivity

Question 80

The assumption that physically attractive people possess other desirable characteristics is known as the ____ effect.

A) sleeper
B) pique
C) receptivity
D) halo