Deck 8: Group Processes

Question 1

What do psychologists call the decrease in individual effort that occurs when people engage in a shared group activity?

A) social facilitation
B) social loafing
C) deindividuation
D) group polarization

Answer 1

social loafing

Question 2

What do psychologists call the extent to which group members think,act,and feel like a single entity?

A) social integration
B) social facilitation
C) need for affiliation
D) groupthink

Answer 2

social integration

Question 3

In one of the earliest social psychological experiments,Triplett (1898)had children wind fishing reels as quickly as they could.What did he find?

A) The children were fastest when observed by the experimenter.
B) Winding times were faster without an audience than with an audience.
C) The children were faster when working next to another child rather than alone.
D) The children were faster working alone than with a partner.

Answer 3

The children were faster when working next to another child rather than alone.

Question 4

Which of the following has been proposed to explain social facilitation?

A) group cohesiveness
B) norms of group behaviour
C) distraction,which can create attentional conflict
D) the tendency for people to feel less accountable in a group context

Question 5

Which of the following would most likely be described as a collective?

A) members of a fraternity
B) children attending summer camp
C) passengers on a plane
D) a family

Question 6

According to the theory of social facilitation,what effect should the presence of others have on someone who is performing a task?

A) It should improve performance on both easy and challenging tasks.
B) It should impair performance on both easy and challenging tasks.
C) It should improve performance on easy tasks and impair performance on challenging tasks.
D) It should impair performance on easy tasks and improve performance on challenging tasks.

Question 7

What do psychologists call the tendency for the presence of other people to increase performance on easy tasks and impair performance on difficult tasks?

A) social loafing
B) social facilitation
C) group polarization
D) groupthink

Question 8

Zajonc's model for how the presence of others influences individual performance is known as social facilitation.In this case,what does "facilitation" refers to?

A) the fact that the presence of others facilitates a performer's ability to focus on the task at hand
B) the fact that the presence of others facilitates a performer's task performance
C) the fact that the presence of others facilitates a performer's evaluation apprehension
D) the fact that the presence of others facilitates a performer's dominant response

Question 9

What effect will facilitation of the dominant response from increased arousal tend to have?

A) It will make easy tasks easier,but difficult tasks more challenging.
B) It will make both easy and difficult tasks easier.
C) It will have no effect on easy tasks,but will make difficult tasks more challenging.
D) It will have no effect on challenging tasks,but will make easy tasks easier.

Question 10

How do groups differ from collectives?

A) Groups,but not collectives,engage in common activities.
B) Collectives,but not groups,engage in common activities.
C) Groups have more direct interaction with one another than collectives do.
D) Collectives have more direct interaction with one another than groups do.

Question 11

Martha and Janice both live in Vancouver.Martha lives in False Creek and Janice lives in the West End.In which of the following scenarios would they be most likely to consider themselves in the same group?

A) They both play softball and their teams are playing in a local tournament.
B) They both raise funds for the same charity.
C) They both shop at Safeway,the grocery store chain in their neighbourhood.
D) They both use Vancouver transit.

Question 12

What do psychologists call people who are engaged in a common enterprise but have little direct interaction?

A) a minimal group
B) a collective
C) conspecifics
D) a disjunctive group

Question 13

Vladimir,a basketball novice,makes about 70 percent of his free throws when practising alone.However,when playing with his friends,he only makes about 50 percent of his free throws.What is the most likely cause of this decrease?

A) social facilitation
B) deindividuation
C) group polarization
D) groupthink

Question 14

Ingham (1974)asked participants to pull on a rope and found that participants pulled almost 20 percent harder when they thought they were pulling alone than when they thought they were part of a group.What does this example illustrate?

A) social loafing
B) a social dilemma
C) groupthink
D) social facilitation

Question 15

Cottrell et al.(1968)found that dominant responses were no more frequent among people working in the presence of blindfolded others than among people working alone.Which theory of social facilitation is this finding consistent with?

A) the evaluation apprehension theory
B) the distraction-conflict theory
C) the persuasive arguments theory
D) the mere presence theory

Question 16

Your psychology professor calls you in front of the class and asks you to answer practice exam questions in front of everyone.You find the questions to be easy.According to the model of social facilitation,how should you perform in front of the class compared to working on the questions alone?

A) You would respond more slowly but get more correct answers.
B) You would respond more quickly but get more incorrect answers.
C) You would perform better if the task is well practised.
D) You would perform worse if the task is newly learned.

Question 17

Consider the research of Ingham and colleagues (1974),in which blindfolded people were led to believe they were pulling a rope with others.What did the researchers find about the effort expended by those blindfolded participants?

A) Compared to those pulling alone,they pulled as hard during their peaks of effort,but they took more rests
B) Compared to those pulling alone,they pulled harder.
C) Compared to those pulling alone,they pulled as hard during their peaks of effort,but they took fewer rests.
D) Compared to those pulling alone,they did not pull as hard.

Question 18

Consider the research by Zajonc et al.(1969),in which cockroaches run in simple or complex mazes either alone,in pairs,or with an audience.Which explanation of social facilitation does this research provide support for?

A) the evaluation apprehension theory
B) the distraction-conflict theory
C) the persuasive arguments theory
D) the mere presence theory

Question 19

According to Zajonc's mere presence hypothesis,what does social facilitation result from?

A) the physical immediacy of others
B) concerns about being evaluated by others
C) dividing attention between the task at hand and the audience
D) a reduction in arousal

Question 20

What did Ringelmann's research in the 1880s demonstrate?

A) People exert less effort in simple group tasks than they would if working alone.
B) The presence of other people improves performance on simple group tasks.
C) Groups tend to make more extreme decisions than individuals.
D) Individual performance is impaired by the distraction of an audience.

Question 21

Which of the following does the collective effort model proposed by Karau and Williams (1993)help to explain?

A) group polarization effects
B) social facilitation
C) social loafing
D) deindividuation

Question 22

The presence of others can improve performance on difficult tasks when the individual's arousal level is low but only when also paired with which of the following?

A) high evaluation pressure
B) low evaluation pressure
C) high cultural collectivism
D) low cultural collectivism

Question 23

According to the collective effort model,in which of the following conditions is social loafing most likely?

A) when people see the group outcome as personally important
B) when people believe the group outcome is important to other group members
C) when people believe that their efforts will lead to the desired outcome
D) when people feel that their input will not compensate for social loafing by others

Question 24

Henderson suspects that the other members of his work group may slack off,so he works late and puts in extra time on their proposal.What is Henderson engaging in?

A) social compensation
B) social facilitation
C) social loafing
D) deindividuation

Question 25

What is deindividuation?

A) the loss of individuality and reduction of constraints against deviant behaviour
B) the decrease in individual effort on simple group tasks
C) the tendency for group decisions to be more extreme than the decisions of the individuals comprising the group
D) the impairment in group decision making that results from a concern with unanimity

Question 26

How do accountability cues contribute to deindividuation?

A) by increasing self-awareness
B) by decreasing arousal
C) by producing evaluation apprehension
D) by altering cost-reward calculations

Question 27

Professor Fester notices that her students seem to put more effort into their individual assignments than into their group projects.What is the most likely cause of this result?

A) social loafing
B) group facilitation
C) groupthink
D) group polarization

Question 28

At crowded parties,Amy loses her sense of self and,as a result,often behaves in ways that she later regrets.For Amy,what do these parties seem to create?

A) deindividuation
B) cohesiveness
C) groupthink
D) entrapment

Question 29

In which of the following conditions is deindividuation most likely?

A) when accountability for behaviour is high
B) when accountability for behaviour is low
C) when the group is engaged in a conjunctive task
D) when the group is engaged in a disjunctive task

Question 30

It seems that every Halloween night,the city of Gotham is marred by violence and vandalism.Which of the following recommendations by the leaders of Gotham should lead to the reduction of such behaviour?

A) decrease self-awareness by making sure everyone who goes out has a cellphone or mp3 player
B) decrease anonymity by making sure that everyone goes out alone
C) make sure that people only venture outside in groups
D) create a highly stimulating environment by playing loud Halloween music over all public address systems

Question 31

Which of the following factors is most likely to contribute to deindividuation?

A) strong emotions
B) feelings of being alone
C) low arousal
D) anonymity

Question 32

Esteban's work group has been assigned a new project by management.Before deciding how much effort to exert on this new assignment,Esteban considers how important the group goals are to him and whether his input will help the group reach its goals.Which of the following is most consistent with Esteban's thinking?

A) distraction-conflict theory
B) the collective effort model
C) the social identity model of deindividuation
D) persuasive arguments theory

Question 33

Sheila and Peter are invited to a masquerade party.At the party,people start insulting and pushing around Parker,another guest at the party.Given the research on deindividuation,in which of the following situations are Sheila and Peter likely to join in the harassment?

A) If Sheila was dressed as a nun and Peter was dressed as a priest.
B) If Sheila and Peter were dressed as gangsters.
C) If Sheila and Peter wore masks and could not be recognized.
D) If Sheila and Peter wore make-up and could be recognized

Question 34

Which of the following is most likely to occur in conditions when an actor feels anonymous and free from evaluation apprehension?

A) social facilitation
B) social influence
C) social conformity
D) social loafing

Question 35

An employee is working with a group of co-workers to finish a project at work.In which of the following cases will the employee be most likely to engage in social loafing?

A) if the employee is high in need for cognition
B) if the employee is from an individualist culture
C) if the employee perceives the project outcome to be personally important
D) if the employee is female

Question 36

Which of the following is most likely to be increased by attentional cues that decrease self-awareness?

A) deindividuated behaviour
B) social facilitation on an easy task
C) cooperation in a prisoner's dilemma
D) groupthink in a decision-making process

Question 37

Lynn needs to get her subordinates to all invest considerable time and energy into the development of a new design for the company's fall clothing line.If she wants to reduce the likelihood of social loafing,what should she do?

A) bring together a large group of diverse individuals
B) tell the subordinates how important the project is to her
C) bring together a small group of people who don't know each other well
D) communicate to them how success of the project will benefit each of them personally

Question 38

According to the model of social facilitation,when the presence of others is physiologically arousing,what tends to happen to a person's performance?

A) It tends to decrease on a task that is well-practised.
B) It tends to increase on a task that is well-practised.
C) It tends to increase on a task that is newly-learned.
D) It tends to improve on any type of task.

Question 39

Harriett goes trick-or-treating on Halloween.She arrives at her neighbour's door just as the phone is ringing.Her neighbour puts the candy on the table and says,"I need to get the phone,so help yourself to whatever kind of candy you want,but please take only one piece." Which of the following would most encourage Harriett to take only one piece of candy?

A) if her neighbour was not able to identify Harriett behind her costume
B) if Harriett is dressed up as a Girl Scout
C) if the candy is placed in front of a Jack-o-lantern
D) if Harriett is two years old rather than twelve years old

Question 40

Social loafing is usually reduced when people believe which of the following?

A) that their contribution to the group project is anonymous
B) that others will join them in working on a project
C) that their efforts are necessary for a successful outcome
D) that the task will be easy

Question 41

Which of the following is one of the essential components of groups?

A) rules
B) norms
C) collectivism
D) status

Question 42

If a leader focuses his or her group on the tasks it needs to achieve,what role is he or she playing?

A) a facilitator role
B) an instrumental role
C) a normative role
D) an expressive role

Question 43

Which of the following is most likely to decrease group cohesiveness?

A) threats from within the group
B) commitment to the group cause
C) high costs associated with leaving the group
D) a dangerous environment

Question 44

What are group roles?

A) Group roles are the rules of conduct for group members.
B) Group roles are the forces that keep groups together.
C) Group roles are the set of expected tasks for group members.
D) Group roles are the titles assigned to different group members.

Question 45

How are group norms and roles similar?

A) Neither will directly influence group productivity.
B) Both can be formal or informal.
C) Both negatively impact group cohesiveness.
D) They are both more important to men than women.

Question 46

In which of the following scenarios is productivity likely to be highest?

A) Daphne isn't quite sure what her role in the group is.
B) Frank must play both an instrumental and an expressive role in the group.
C) Amanda's role in the group seems to be constantly changing.
D) Pierre assumes a clearly defined instrumental role in the group.

Question 47

Tuckman and Jensen propose that groups develop through stages.In order,what are these stages?

A) forming,storming,norming,performing,adjourning
B) forming,norming,storming,performing,adjourning
C) forming,performing,storming,norming,adjourning
D) forming,norming,performing,storming,adjourning

Question 48

Sharice has just joined the theatre group in her community.Which of the following is most likely?

A) She is optimistic that joining the group will be beneficial.
B) Because she is new to the group,it won't matter if she is rejected from the group.
C) She will feel good about herself even if the group is of low status.
D) Belonging to the group will not affect her sense of self.

Question 49

Johnson and Downing (1979)found that participants wearing nurses' uniforms delivered lower levels of shock when they were anonymous than when they were identifiable.What does this finding suggest that deindividuation causes people to do?

A) It causes them to feel that the normative standards of the group do not apply to them.
B) It causes them to engage in destructive behaviour when they are anonymous.
C) It causes them to rely more heavily on personal standards of behaviour when they are anonymous.
D) It causes them to act in ways that are consistent with the norms of the most salient group.

Question 50

Madeline has recently been accepted into a sorority at her university.Which of the following is most likely to happen?

A) She will look to the other new members of the group to determine appropriate group behaviour.
B) She will be skeptical that sorority membership will be advantageous until she is more comfortable within the group.
C) She will engage in social loafing until she feels like an accepted member of the group.
D) She will model her behaviour on that of long-standing group members.

Question 51

Calvin is part of a highly cohesive group and wants to be sure that this cohesiveness positively impacts the performance of the group.In which of the following situations could Calvin be most certain of this?

A) if his group was large rather than small
B) if his group works on tasks that are interdependent
C) if the prevailing norms in the group are negative
D) if successful performance requires creativity

Question 52

What types of roles develop in groups?

A) instrumental and emotional roles
B) informational and informal roles
C) motivational and political roles
D) formal and gender roles

Question 53

What has research concerning the relationship between group performance and cohesiveness shown?

A) Group performance and cohesiveness are largely unrelated.
B) The relationship is stronger in large groups.
C) The relationship is stronger when interdependence between members is required for the task.
D) The causal direction of this relationship is mostly one-way,such that cohesiveness increases group performance.

Question 54

According to the textbook,which of the following reasons is the most important influence on why people join groups?

A) to be free from social threat
B) to fulfill the need to belong
C) to reduce superordinate identities
D) to reduce interactions with disliked others

Question 55

The members of the student council are in the process of reconciling their conflicts and developing a common sense of purpose.Which of Tuckman and Jensen's (1977)stages of group development is the student council at?

A) forming
B) storming
C) norming
D) performing

Question 56

Compared to Tuckman and Jensen's (1977)stages of group development,what does Gersick (1988)suggest about groups?

A) Groups develop gradually through a series of stages.
B) Groups adopt problem-solving strategies relatively quickly in their development.
C) Groups progress through the first stage of development rather quickly,but relatively slowly through the latter stages.
D) There is little variability between groups in the course of development.

Question 57

In her group,Melanie is always the one who breaks the tension with a funny story and provides a shoulder to cry on when things go wrong.Which role is she playing?

A) an expressive role
B) a facilitator role
C) an instrumental role
D) a normative role

Question 58

Nita has just joined the rowing club,an organization that has been low in members for the last several years.Which of the following will most likely happen?

A) She will assimilate into the club,making whatever changes are necessary to fit in,while the club will make little accommodation.
B) She will become committed to the group if the group members accept each other and the group.
C) She will make few changes to fit in,hoping the group will accept her as she is.
D) She will rarely rely on her relationships with established members of the club.

Question 59

Deborah has just joined a sorority.She is unsure what she should wear when she goes to eat at the sorority's dining hall.What is Deborah uncertain about?

A) the informal role
B) the formal role
C) the informal norm
D) the formal norm

Question 60

According to the social identity model of deindividuation effects,what does deindividuated behaviour result from?

A) a reduction in social identity
B) concerns about being evaluated by group members
C) conformity to the most immediate group norms
D) simultaneous social categorizations

Question 61

Following group discussion,which of the following is most likely result?

A) Group decisions will tend to become more conservative than the positions of the individuals comprising the group.
B) Group decisions will tend to become more risky than the positions of the individuals comprising the group.
C) Group decisions will tend to reflect the average of the positions of the individuals comprising the group.
D) Group decisions will tend to become more extreme than the positions of the individuals comprising the group.

Question 62

Myers and Bishop (1970)set up groups of relatively prejudiced and unprejudiced high school students and asked them to respond to issues concerning racial attitudes,both before and after discussion of these issues.Following the group discussions,what was the result?

A) Both groups became more prejudiced.
B) Both groups became less prejudiced.
C) Those who were relatively unprejudiced became less prejudiced and those who were relatively prejudiced became more prejudiced.
D) Those who were relatively unprejudiced became more prejudiced and those who were relatively prejudiced became less prejudiced.

Question 63

When groups exhibit groupthink,which of the following tends to characterize their decisions?

A) an examination of the risks associated with their preferred course of action
B) an exhaustive survey of group goals and objectives
C) a comprehensive contingency plan should their preferred course of action fail
D) a selective bias in processing of the information relevant to their decision

Question 64

Before a meeting,each of several city council members was tentatively considering an air pollution ordinance.After a meeting,they expressed strong support of the ordinance.What does this example illustrate?

A) group polarization
B) social loafing
C) group persuasion
D) social facilitation

Question 65

According to Janis,what is the most important behavioural symptom of groupthink?

A) an illusion of similarity
B) a tendency to cautiously support decisions
C) a tendency toward self-censorship
D) pessimism about what might happen

Question 66

Which of the following is an informational social influence explanation for group polarization?

A) mindless conformity
B) persuasive arguments
C) social comparisons
D) biased samplings

Question 67

Which theory maintains that group polarization is the result of the quantity and quality of ideas exchanged in the group?

A) social comparisons theory
B) balance theory
C) social categorizations theory
D) persuasive arguments theory

Question 68

In which of the following cases is group polarization most likely to occur?

A) when group members are discussing important issues
B) when group members are discussing unimportant issues
C) when group members know one another
D) when group members do not know one another

Question 69

John,Greta,Paul,and Celine are air traffic controllers.They encounter a stressful,anxious situation in which two planes might soon collide.Which of the following conditions would most encourage this group of air traffic controllers to display groupthink when pondering their next step?

A) A majority decision is more acceptable than a unanimous decision.
B) There are systematic procedures in place to handle such situations.
C) None of them is considered to be a supervisor of any of the others.
D) They are a cohesive group.

Question 70

What do psychologists call the tendency for groups to become more extreme in their positions following discussion?

A) group polarization
B) social loafing
C) a social dilemma
D) social facilitation

Question 71

Hendrika owns a small aerospace company and wants to make sure that she recognizes the signs of groupthink if it crops up in her group meetings.She should be especially concerned that groupthink may be occurring if the group exhibits which of the following characteristics?

A) coalition formation
B) social loafing
C) divergent thinking
D) closed-mindedness

Question 72

A group of high school students is discussing the legalization of drugs.The students taking part in the discussion mildly support the position that drugs should not be legalized.If group polarization were to occur following the discussion,which of the following would most likely happen?

A) Students would be less strongly opposed to the legalization of drugs.
B) Students would be more strongly opposed to the legalization of drugs.
C) Students would be more likely to experiment with drugs.
D) Students' attitudes would not change as a result of the discussion.

Question 73

In which of the following cases is groupthink most likely to occur?

A) when groups have systematic decision-making procedures
B) if the group lacks a strong directive leader
C) in low-stress situations
D) in highly cohesive groups

Question 74

Which of the following makes the greatest contribution to group polarization?

A) an increase in dominant responses under conditions of high arousal
B) lack of group cohesiveness
C) deindividuation of group members
D) the desire to distinguish one's group from other groups

Question 75

Latasha joined a campus group called "Young Conservatives." Which of these outcomes is most consistent with the persuasive-arguments explanation for group polarization?

A) In the attempt to fit in,Latasha adjusts her attitudes to be even more conservative.
B) Latasha self-categorizes as a conservative,and her political beliefs become more extreme as a result.
C) After exposure to ideas she has not thought of before,Latasha comes to possess even more conservative beliefs.
D) In an attempt to convince others she is a "good" conservative,Latasha persuades herself to be more conservative.

Question 76

In which of the following situations is groupthink most likely to emerge?

A) when the need for agreement takes priority over the desire to obtain correct information
B) when group members feel that they will be unable to compensate for social loafing
C) when individual benefits are in conflict with the needs of the group
D) when group norms overwhelm individual identities

Question 77

Based on the social comparison explanation of group polarization,which of the following should have the most influence on group members' attitudes toward an issue?

A) how different their attitudes are from those of an outgroup
B) those in the ingroup who favour a cautious approach
C) the number of people in their group who share that attitude
D) those in the ingroup who offer the most arguments relevant to the issue

Question 78

In which of the following situations is group polarization least likely to occur?

A) In deciding the best way to recruit new members,the members of Alpha Beta Fraternity are concerned that their fraternity is distinct from the other fraternities on campus.
B) While discussing the possibility of offering more outpatient services,the members of the hospital board are surprised that so many members favour the proposal.
C) The re-election committee discusses both the potential advantages and disadvantages of leaking negative information about the opposing candidate.
D) In one of the most important decisions it has ever faced,the prosecution team must decide whether to press criminal charges against a high-ranking public official.

Question 79

Which of the following characteristics of groups contribute to groupthink?

A) having several different ingroup orientations
B) having several different group leaders
C) group size
D) group stress

Question 80

Four groups,A,B,C,and D,are meeting separately.Each is making an important decision.Below is one quotation overheard from each group's meeting.Based on these quotations,which group seems least likely to fall victim to groupthink?

A) A: "The good Lord is on our side."
B) B: "This is not the time nor the place to bring up worst-case scenarios."
C) C: "This has to be done right even if it takes us all day to decide."
D) D: "The threat is very real and we must act decisively and unanimously."