Deck 4: Social Cognition

Question 1

Which of the following would not be a productive strategy to prevent groupthink from occurring?

A) Moving quickly to consensus before too many opposing views are expressed
B) Seeking all the information you can get
C) Having a nondirective, less powerful leader
D) Trying to reduce the cohesiveness of the group

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The point of Muzafer Sherif's autokinetic effect study was to show that:

A) in the absence of a social norm, people will create one
B) social reality and physical reality are equally subjective
C) perceptual illusions are subject to social interpretation
D) the sensory system can be overwritten by the perceptual system

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Unlike chimps or orangutans, children as young as toddlers who have learned a rule of how to obtain a chocolate candy reward will:

A) share their knowledge with other children of a similar age
B) abandon their knowledge and conform to their peers' different strategy
C) continue to use their personal rule and not adopted their peers' strategy
D) use their personal rule when others are not present but conform when in a group

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Disastrous decisions made by members of the Third Reich, Nixon's "palace guard," and NASA officials involved in the launch of the ill-fated Challenger space shuttle were a consequence of a maladaptive decision-making strategy Irving Janis calls:

A) mind-guarding
B) groupthink
C) high-risk conformity
D) collective momentum

Question 5

In an experiment by Schachter, subjects engaged in a group discussion of a juvenile delinquent and were asked to suggest treatment for him ranging from "very lenient" to "very hard." When later asked how much they liked other members of their group, some of whom were confederates of the experimenter, subjects gave the highest ratings to:

A) the "slider" confederate, who first deviated from but later conformed to the opinions of real subjects on how Johnny should be treated
B) the "leader" confederate, who played a major role in influencing the opinions of real subjects on how Johnny should be treated
C) the "reluctant" confederate, who refrained from voicing any opinion until all the other subjects had decided on how Johnny should be treated
D) the "modal" confederate, who consistently conformed to the opinions of real subjects on how Johnny should be treated.

Question 6

According to Irving Janis, the maladaptive phenomenon of "groupthink" is more likely to occur when:

A) groups are composed of diverse members who seek agreement in order to overcome their different points of view
B) concurrence-seeking processes override realistic considerations of alternative courses of action
C) differences among group members prevent the group from reaching a well-considered, realistic decision
D) the desire of each group member to be well liked by other group members overrides concurrence-seeking processes

Question 7

Aronson describes an experiment in which groups of subjects discuss the punishment appropriate for a juvenile delinquent. In this experiment, subjects best liked a confederate when he played the role of a:

A) person who agreed with the group (conformist)
B) person who disagreed with the group (deviate)
C) person who originally agreed and then came to disagree with the group (lost soul)
D) person who disagreed and then came to agree with the group (slider)

Question 8

According to the research by Chartrand and Bargh, students were more likely to _______ when paired with a student who ________.

A) touch their face; was shaking their foot
B) touch their face; was touching their face
C) be put off; touched their face
D) be put off; shook their foot

Question 9

Which of the following is not a characteristic of groupthink?

A) The perception of invulnerability
B) The seeking of unanimity
C) The illusion of too many good alternatives
D) A strong leader who does not challenge the group to express doubts

Question 10

Chartrand and Bargh named the fact that people often mirror one another's nonverbal behavior and mannerism when they talk the:

A) mirror cell effect
B) mockingjay effect
C) chameleon effect
D) mime effect

Question 11

According to the research by Chartrand and Bargh, students:

A) liked nonchameleons more than chameleons
B) were annoyed by the behaviors of the people they were paired with for conversation
C) liked chameleons more than nonchameleons
D) liked both chameleons and nonchameleons the same amount

Question 12

Which of the following statements about Solomon Asch's conformity experiments is true?

A) Subjects were rewarded with money when they answered correctly.
B) Subjects were rewarded with money when they went along with the group.
C) The judging task was very difficult.
D) Only one group member was a naive subject.

Question 13

According to Aronson, most people believe that they are motivated by a desire to __________, whereas others are motivated by a desire to __________.

A) be correct; be respected by others
B) be respected by others; be correct
C) get rewards; avoid punishments
D) avoid punishments; get rewards

Question 14

In studying the relationship between conformity when making judgments in public versus private, the general finding is that when subjects are given more privacy:

A) they conform more
B) they conform less
C) they make better decisions
D) they make poorer decisions

Question 15

In Asch's conformity experiments, the discomfort felt by subjects who expressed agreement with the incorrect judgments of the majority could result from the conflict between two important goals. It was suggested that the goals in conflict are:

A) the goal of being correct and the goal of staying in the good graces of others by living up to their expectations
B) the fear of being wrong and the fear of being right
C) the goal of being correct and the goal of making others appear to be conforming and wishy-washy
D) the goal of being admired and the goal of expressing one's individuality

Question 16

According to Janis, groupthink most often leads a group to make:

A) mostly good-quality decisions
B) mostly average-quality decisions
C) mostly poor-quality decisions
D) some very good and some very bad decisions

Question 17

The mirror system that underlies the chameleon effect also facilitates ________ in young children as early as toddlers.

A) language development
B) problem-solving skills
C) musical skills
D) social learning

Question 18

Research indicates that when people observe a conformity experiment like Asch's (in which subjects conformed to the erroneous judgments of others regarding the length of lines), they typically predict that:

A) the subjects will exhibit less conformity than they actually do
B) that they, personally, would exhibit less conformity than the subjects they are observing
C) that they, personally, would exhibit about the same amount of conformity as the subjects they are observing
D) that they, personally, would exhibit more conformity than the subjects they are observing

Question 19

In Asch's experiment on conformity, what was one of the findings?

A) Roughly half of the responses of the naive subjects went along with the group.
B) Around one-third of the responses of naive subjects went along with the group.
C) Roughly half of the naive subjects conformed once.
D) Around 90% of the naive subjects conformed once.

Question 20

According to Aronson's analysis of the Challenger disaster, which of the following most likely did NOT contribute to the disaster?

A) NASA had already conducted two dozen successful launches.
B) A schoolteacher who was on board created more publicity than normal.
C) At NASA, a liftoff was a more desirable decision than a delay.
D) NASA engineers assured management that all safety measures had been taken.

Question 21

According to research on bystander intervention, an individual is more likely to be helped when potential helpers:

A) feel themselves to be very different from the person in need of help
B) are great in number
C) have trouble determining if the situation is a real emergency
D) assume personal responsibility for intervening

Question 22

In the "woman in distress" study, in which subjects waiting for an experiment were led to believe that a female experimenter in the next room had fallen and hurt herself, subjects were more likely to come to her assistance when:

A) they heard her moan, "Oh, my God, my foot . . . I can't move it"
B) she was silent, as if unconscious
C) they were waiting alone in the next room
D) they were waiting with a stranger in the next room

Question 23

A good rule of thumb to use in predicting conformity in an ambiguous situation is that there will be a greater dependence on __________ when physical reality is lacking as a basis for judgment.

A) objective reality
B) personal intuition
C) social reality
D) groupthink

Question 24

Aronson describes a study in which male students were observed showering to determine if they complied with a request to conserve water. Subjects showered alone, with a conserving model, or with two conserving models. The percentages of subjects who conserved water in the alone, one model, two model conditions were:

A) 6%, 8%, 10%, respectively
B) 6%, 49%, 67%, respectively
C) 6%, 67%, 49%, respectively
D) 67%, 49%, 6%, respectively

Question 25

According to Festinger, conformity is more likely to occur when physical reality is __________ and social reality is __________.

A) low; high
B) low; low
C) high; low
D) high; high

Question 26

The effect of unanimity on conformity in the Asch line judging paradigm can be broken by one dissenter if:

A) the dissenter gives a correct answer that is different from the group
B) the dissenter gives a wrong answer, but it is different from the group
C) both A and B are correct
D) the location of the experiment is a run-down factory rather than a college lab

Question 27

Which grouping will most likely lead to the most conformity hazardous foolish actions?

A) Male toddlers
B) Teenage females
C) Teenage dating couples
D) Teenage males

Question 28

Influencing someone by means of insisting that he or she behave in a particular way is called:

A) compliance
B) identification
C) modeling
D) determinism

Question 29

In a series of studies on bystander intervention conducted on the New York subway system, an accomplice of the experimenters staggered and collapsed on the floor of the train. Overall, these studies found that:

A) the "victim" was offered help more often when the train had relatively few passengers
B) the "victim" was almost never offered help, regardless of how crowded the train was
C) the "victim" was almost always offered help when he was made to seem obviously ill
D) the "victim" was almost never offered help when he was carrying a liquor bottle and was made to reek of alcohol.

Question 30

Research conducted by Latane, Darley, and their colleagues on bystander intervention has revealed that:

A) people tend to help more when they're in a hurry
B) people in big cities help more than people in small towns
C) the more witnesses there are to an emergency, the less likely it is that an individual will decide to help
D) the more witnesses there are to an emergency, the more likely it is that an individual will decide to help

Question 31

Studies on conformity and jaywalking indicate that:

A) pedestrians are more likely to jaywalk when they observe a high-status, well-dressed person who jaywalks
B) pedestrians are more likely to jaywalk when they observe a low-status, shabbily dressed person jaywalking
C) pedestrians are more likely to jaywalk in large cities than in small towns
D) pedestrians are more likely to jaywalk in small towns than in large cities

Question 32

According to the research on self-esteem and security, those who felt ________ were more likely to conform to a norm set than those who felt totally accepted.

A) moderately accepted
B) not accepted
C) strongly disliked
D) invisible

Question 33

According to Aronson, when physical reality __________, people's reliance on social reality __________.

A) increases; increases
B) decreases; increases
C) increases; becomes unpredictable
D) decreases; decreases

Question 34

According to the concept of pluralistic ignorance, college students often believe that:

A) everyone in the class understands a lecture when they do not
B) everyone is drinking to excess on campus except them
C) everyone is having sex on campus expect them
D) all of the above

Question 35

Studies involving the "costs and benefits" of helping indicate that:

A) people help more when the costs of helping are high
B) people help less when the costs of helping are high
C) costs are unrelated to helping, but people help when benefits are high
D) emergencies occur so quickly that bystanders do not have time to estimate costs and benefits

Question 36

When are people least likely to throw a flier on the ground?

A) When there was litter all around.
B) When a model picked up a discarded fast-food bag and placed it in the trash can.
C) When the model kicked the fast-food bag.
D) When there were fliers all on the cars and none on the ground.

Question 37

Six-year-old Lisa finds that hitting her little brother is the quickest way to get him to stop bugging her. Her mother, however, finds Lisa's behavior unacceptable and threatens to take away her favorite toy for a whole week if she hits her brother again. Lisa stops hitting her brother. Lisa's behavior illustrates what form of response to social influence?

A) identification
B) compliance
C) secondary gain
D) determinism

Question 38

The research on accountability suggests that most people will "go along to get along" and comply with a dumb group decision unless:

A) they are instructed to be as accurate as possible
B) they will be held accountable for complying
C) they are told to not conform under any circumstances
D) they were told be accurate and that they would be accountable for their decision

Question 39

Aronson and O'Leary conducted a study designed to encourage water conservation among male students showering at the university field house. They found that students were more likely to conserve water (by turning off the shower while soaping up) after:

A) a colorful, vivid sign urging water conservation was placed in the shower room.
B) a water-conserving "model" told them that they, too, should turn off the shower while soaping up.
C) listening to a high-status university official explain the importance of conserving water.
D) observing the behavior of a "model" who turned off the shower while soaping up.

Question 40

If a person makes a prior commitment to a view that differs from the group opinion, he or she will tend to be:

A) less susceptible to group pressure to conform
B) more open to group pressure to conform
C) less confident of his or her own view
D) more open to conform to the group's opinion on a different issue

Question 41

Even though you believe college tuition should be increased to meet rising expenses, you go along with a group of friends as they organize a protest for lower tuition. This is an example of:

A) diffusion of responsibility
B) reactance
C) audience inhibition
D) identification

Question 42

Three responses to social influence are compliance, identification, and internalization. The major component for each of them, respectively, is:

A) power, liking, and loving
B) status, attractiveness, and reward
C) power, attractiveness, and credibility
D) power, attractiveness, and liking

Question 43

Although a group of psychiatrists who were asked to predict the results of Milgram's experiment on obedience thought that ________ percent of the subjects would use the highest possible shock, in fact ________ percent delivered all the shocks available.

A) almost 100; less than 1
B) 33; 65
C) 90; 100
D) less than 1; 65

Question 44

One implication discussed from Milgram's classic experiment is that:

A) it is important to follow the rules so that society has norms to guide it
B) obedience is important in training soldiers so that there can be a united force
C) many innocent people had been killed by Nazi soldiers because the soldiers said they were only following orders
D) standing up for freedom and liberty is important in our society

Question 45

According to Aronson, power is the essential component in:

A) compliance
B) internalization
C) identification
D) deindividuation

Question 46

Fear of negative consequences would be the major motivation in which of the following?

A) Internalization
B) Identification
C) Compliance
D) Mirroring others

Question 47

Which of the following is not characteristic of internalization?

A) It is based on the admiration or liking of another.
B) It is the most deeply rooted and permanent response to social influence.
C) It is based on the desire to be right.
D) The behavior is internally or intrinsically motivated.

Question 48

Suppose you saw a small child eating lima beans with obvious reluctance. When asked why she was eating them if she wasn't fond of them, she replied, "Because Big Bird eats his vegetables, and I want to be like him!" What type of conformity is she displaying?

A) Identification
B) Internalization
C) Reactance
D) Compliance

Question 49

In his studies of obedience to authority, Milgram found that:

A) the closer subjects were to the victim, the less they shocked him
B) the more similar the victim was to the subject, the less the subject shocked him
C) subjects shocked the confederate less when the experiment was conducted at a prestigious university than in a run-down commercial building
D) subjects from Australia and Spain were less obedient to authority than subjects from the United States

Question 50

The essential component of internalization is:

A) power to reward or punish
B) being convinced the new attitude is correct
C) admiration of another person
D) obedience to authority

Question 51

Meeus and Raaijmakers found that subjects were more likely to make negative remarks about a job applicant's performance if:

A) the subjects believed the applicant had already been accepted for the job
B) the subjects interviewed the applicant face-to-face
C) the subjects believed the applicant would not be receiving the remarks until some later time
D) the subjects were unfamiliar with the requirements of the job

Question 52

In Milgram's study of obedience, which of the following participants was (were) a confederate of the experimenter?

A) The teacher
B) The learner
C) Both the teacher and the learner
D) Neither the learner nor the teacher

Question 53

At what voltage level did the majority of subjects stop "shocks" to the learner in Milgram's classic experiment?

A) 15 volts, slight shock
B) 150 volts, learner asks out of experiment
C) 300 volts, learner is silent
D) 450 volts, "Danger XXX"

Question 54

The type of conformity that is most likely to persist the longest is that which results from:

A) social reality
B) compliance
C) internalization
D) identification