Deck 12: Social Psychology

Question 1

In Milgram's obedience studies,about ________ percent of the participants administered the maximum shock,and ________ of them tried to quit the study.

A) 66; almost all
B) 50; almost all
C) 25; 50 percent
D) 15; 50 percent

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Cat wants to buy a new laptop.She knows that her husband will think that it is not a necessary expense.She initially proposes buying a $2,500 laptop.When her husband gets upset,she suggests that she could get by with a used laptop for $700.Cat is using the ________ approach.

A) lowball
B) foot-in-the-door
C) authority
D) door-in-the-face

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Cassie is joining a yoga studio because new memberships are quite inexpensive.When the director explains the plan to her,Cassie discovers that there are added costs,such as for workshops and mats.Though Cassie would not have gone to sign up if she had known the final price,she has become committed to the idea and does join the studio.The yoga studio has effectively used ________ to sell Cassie a membership.

A) social proof
B) the lowballing strategy
C) the door-in-the-face technique
D) the gradual acquiescence strategy

Answer 3

B

Question 4

In ________,the presence of others may lead to increased arousal and enhanced performance.

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

Question 5

To reach the coast for spring break,Cade is thinking about driving straight for 48 hours.As much as he would like to do it,he knows it is too dangerous.Both of his roommates tell him that they think it is a great idea and will go with him.To keep him awake,they will talk to him while he drives.When Cade decides to go,he is showing the effects of:

A) deindividuation.
B) the risky-shift effect.
C) social loafing.
D) reference group pressure.

Question 6

Expected standards of conduct that influence behaviors are referred to as:

A) conformity.
B) social norms.
C) group decision making.
D) obedience.

Question 7

Mr.Lahore has hired four college students to paint his house.Given what you know about social loafing,which set of conditions is likely to produce the best work?

A) Each student paints one room by himself.
B) All the students work together on each room.
C) The students work in two-person teams.
D) The students take turns painting and watching each other.

Question 8

According to Zajonc,the presence of other people affects performance because it ________ arousal,which ________.

A) decreases; weakens responding
B) increases; causes selection of the adaptive response
C) decreases; promotes seeking further stimulation
D) increases; leads to the dominant response

Question 9

Human beings have evolved as social animals who live in groups,in part because:

A) members of the same group do not constitute a danger to each other.
B) mating within a group increases the probability of a healthy offspring.
C) groups provide safety from competing groups and predators.
D) members of the same groups provide less competition for mates.

Question 10

In the ________,people will be more likely to agree with a small request after they have refused a large request.

A) door-in-the-face technique
B) foot-in-the-door effect
C) lowballing strategy
D) none of the above

Question 11

When everyone in her class stated that he or she liked to dance,Jill reported liking it,too,even though she dislikes it.This incident is an example of:

A) compliance.
B) conformity.
C) ingroup/outgroup bias.
D) obedience.

Question 12

Jodie is a member of a jury that is trying to decide whether to award the plaintiff $5,000 or $10,000 in damages.While most of the jury favors the smaller award,Jodie favors the larger one.Jodie is the last to respond when the foreman polls the jury.What would make Jodie most likely to maintain her own view?

A) There is little discussion before the jury is polled.
B) One other juror votes for the larger award.
C) The other jurors are all male.
D) The other jurors are all female.

Question 13

Sometimes after a big football game fans will riot,getting into fights and destroying property.People in such a crowd will often do things that they would never do on their own.This effect is due primarily to a process of:

A) social facilitation.
B) social loafing.
C) deindividuation.
D) groupthink.

Question 14

Darius has volunteered to work 2 hours a week as a tutor.He tells the volunteer coordinator that he cannot do more.Gradually,he agrees to add an extra hour here and there,until finally he is tutoring 12 hours a week.Darius has gotten into this situation through the compliance technique known as the:

A) foot-in-the-door technique.
B) reciprocity strategy.
C) door-in-the-face technique.
D) gradual acquiescence strategy.

Question 15

Annabel just started working on a very difficult paper for her psychology class.Given what you know about social facilitation and the presence of others on performance,where should Annabel work on the paper to make the best progress?

A) in the library,at a table with other people studying
B) alone in her room or in a private library carrel
C) in her room with her two roommates
D) in the library,with other people working on the same paper

Question 16

Fraternity hazing sometimes involves deindividuation,causing people to behave in uncharacteristic ways.Suppose a fraternity event that is to involve hazing is moved into a room with a wall of mirrors.What effect would you expect that change to make in the event,and why?

A) It would decrease hazing by making the members more self-aware.
B) It would increase hazing by providing a sense of an audience.
C) It would decrease hazing by making members feel watched.
D) It would increase hazing by posing a challenge to self-esteem.

Question 17

A group of microbiology students has been working on a semester-long project that will determine 50 percent of the students' course grades.A week before the project is due,the students realize they have made a critical error and their results are useless.One member of the group argues strongly that they should falsify their results so they will be able to turn in a successful project.Though all the other members have doubts,none of them feels comfortable saying so.All the members ignore the possibility of being caught and convince themselves to falsify the report.This scenario is an example of:

A) bystander effect.
B) social facilitation.
C) social loafing.
D) groupthink.

Question 18

Which of the following factors is NOT a cause of deindividuation?

A) arousal
B) anonymity
C) lack of responsibility
D) group identification

Question 19

The Stanford prison study illustrates that people:

A) are innately violent unless constrained by society.
B) behave in accord with their roles in a situation.
C) will obey orders even when they violate their principles.
D) placed in all-male groups will create dominance hierarchies.

Question 20

Trey,a teaching assistant,is recording grades for a large introductory psychology class.If Trey finds this task to be easy,where would social facilitation theory suggest he ought to work to make the best progress?

A) in a private study carrel at the library
B) alone in his house
C) in his office,with other teaching assistants who are also recording grades
D) sitting by himself at a coffee shop

Question 21

According to the ________,primates may have evolved a large prefrontal cortex in order to help them successfully navigate complex and dynamic social groups.

A) social brain hypothesis
B) sexual selection hypothesis
C) developmental brain hypothesis
D) mere-exposure phenomenon

Question 22

In light of the results of the Milgram studies,which of the following soldiers would you expect to have the LEAST trouble carrying out his or her orders?

A) a soldier shooting an enemy soldier at a distance of 10 feet
B) a soldier shooting enemy soldiers from inside a tank
C) a marine strangling an enemy sailor in hand-to-hand combat
D) a pilot dropping a bomb on an enemy airbase

Question 23

Katie feels as if her sorority is made up of many diverse and unique members.However,she feels like fraternities are composed of males who are all very similar to each other.Her bias is known as:

A) the mere-exposure phenomenon.
B) the outgroup homogeneity effect.
C) a self-fulfilling prophecy.
D) confirmation bias.

Question 24

Jerry is someone who doesn't think very highly of postal workers.Which of the following statements would be most consistent with the concept of outgroup homogeneity?

A) "If you've seen one postal worker,you've seen them all."
B) "If you scratch my back,I'll scratch yours."
C) "You can't judge a book by its cover."
D) "They would let anyone be a postal worker."

Question 25

Christopher is a middle-aged accountant.Which of the following would be considered his outgroup?

A) females
B) males
C) his family
D) accountants

Question 26

In line with social identity theory,each of the following has been shown to increase ingroup favoritism EXCEPT:

A) threats to one's country.
B) perceptions of relative deprivation.
C) positive personal feedback.
D) mortality salience.

Question 27

In line with the social brain hypothesis,which of the following animals is likely to have the largest frontal cortex?

A) rabbits
B) orangutans
C) cats
D) rats

Question 28

Americans may feel particularly good about themselves after Team USA wins an Olympic gold medal because social identity theory states that:

A) all victories increase self-esteem.
B) victories by ingroups increase self-esteem.
C) victories by outgroups increase self-esteem.
D) losses by outgroup members decrease self-esteem.

Question 29

________ is critical for group formation,as it helps us to predict that in response to friendly actions people will likely behave cooperatively,whereas in response to hostile actions people will likely behave more aggressively.

A) Reciprocity
B) Transitivity
C) Generosity
D) Munificence

Question 30

When the teacher in Milgram's obedience study received orders over the phone instead of face-to-face,the level of obedience:

A) increased slightly.
B) decreased.
C) remained unchanged.
D) increased a great deal.

Question 31

In light of Asch's work on conformity,you could predict that obedience in the Milgram study would have DECREASED greatly under which of the following conditions?

A) if the learner is more similar to the teacher
B) if a confederate helps administer the shocks
C) if a confederate refuses to administer the shocks
D) if the experimenter criticizes the learner

Question 32

When Milgram decreased the physical distance between the teacher and the learner in his obedience studies so that the teacher could see the learner,the level of obedience:

A) decreased.
B) increased slightly.
C) did not change.
D) increased a great deal.

Question 33

Different brain regions are activated when we consider ingroup versus outgroup members.For instance,the ________ is activated when we engage in ingroup bias,but is less active when we consider members of outgroups.

A) medial prefrontal cortex
B) amygdala
C) nucleus accumbens
D) insula

Question 34

Building from the principle of transitivity,you can assume that if Person A and Person B are friends and Person A strongly likes Person C,then Person B will ________ PersonC

A) moderately dislike
B) strongly like
C) strongly dislike
D) feel neutral toward

Question 35

Decreased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex can help to explain inhumane acts,like genocide and the Holocaust.Which of the following reasons would explain why decreased activity in this brain region leads to such terrible occurrences?

A) It is associated with dehumanizing ingroup members.
B) It is associated with dehumanizing outgroup members.
C) It increases aggression toward outgroup members.
D) It increases aggression toward ingroup members.

Question 36

Based on the work of Tajfel and Turner (1978),we know that for groups to show ingroup favoritism,they:

A) must be based on meaningful criteria.
B) can be arbitrarily established based on meaningless criteria.
C) should include members that are genetically similar.
D) must not include people who are high in prejudice.

Question 37

Stanley Milgram's experiment illustrated the phenomenon of:

A) stereotypes.
B) obedience.
C) resistance.
D) none of the above.

Question 38

The main conclusion of Milgram's studies is that:

A) ordinary people will obey authority even when they do not want to.
B) ordinary people have an inherent violence that is easily released.
C) ordinary people will follow immoral orders only in artificial situations.
D) men will obey immoral orders,but women will not.

Question 39

In which of the following contexts would seeing students wear their university logo be an example of social identity theory?

A) when they are away from campus
B) when they are on campus
C) after their team wins a game
D) after their team loses a game

Question 40

Humans evolved a need for groups,because group membership offered each of the following evolutionarily advantages EXCEPT:

A) security from predators.
B) access to reproductive partners.
C) competition for limited resources.
D) cooperation in hunting and gathering food.

Question 41

When people are uncertain of how to behave,they often look to others to help tell them the "right way" to do things.This type of conformity is known as ________ influence.

A) informational
B) normative
C) customary
D) deviant

Question 42

One of the reasons that jigsaw classrooms work so well is because they:

A) decrease social loafing by making each student responsible for some component of a project.
B) decrease social loafing by pooling students' anonymous efforts on all components of a project.
C) increase social loafing by making each student responsible for some component of a project.
D) increase social loafing by pooling students' anonymous efforts on all components of a project.

Question 43

Based on what you know about deindividuation,which of the following Halloween costumes would likely lead to the worst behavior?

A) nurse
B) masked witch
C) police
D) masked superhero

Question 44

After studying social psychology,Kelly knows the dangers of groupthink.What can she do to ensure that the decisions of her group are not impacted by this phenomenon?

A) voice her opinion as the leader early on
B) encourage the group to make a quick decision
C) ask someone to argue against the majority
D) reward group members who agree with her decision

Question 45

As designed by Aronson,in a jigsaw classroom,students:

A) form new ingroups to break barriers between existing outgroups.
B) compete with ingroup members and cooperate with outgroup members.
C) study the customs of the members of their outgroups.
D) must cooperate with both ingroup and outgroup members.

Question 46

The foot-in-the-door compliance technique,in which people start by asking for a small request that is followed by a larger request,works through the principle of:

A) reciprocity.
B) commitment.
C) transitivity.
D) social proof.

Question 47

Sherif's work on the autokinetic effect stands as evidence for ________ influence,whereas Asch's visual acuity study examined ________ influence.

A) informational; deviant
B) normative; informational
C) deviant; normative
D) informational; normative

Question 48

Sarah wants to do particularly well at her upcoming piano recital.What should she do to ensure a great performance?

A) practice repeatedly until playing the piano becomes her nondominant response
B) practice repeatedly until playing the piano becomes her dominant response
C) wing it,because too much practice will make her nervous
D) insist that everyone she cares about comes to hear her at the recital

Question 49

When public schools were desegregated,people thought that simply having black and white students attend school together would reduce stereotypes and prejudice.Given what you know about the Sherif studies on groups and prejudice,why did this approach NOT work?

A) The groups were too different for the students to find common ground.
B) Contact alone could not overcome existing hostility.
C) It might have worked for race but could not work for socioeconomic class.
D) Disparities between the groups deepened existing hostilities.

Question 50

When someone fails to conform to a group,it threatens his or her need to belong and creates a fear response that is evidenced by activity in the:

A) amgydala.
B) frontal cortex.
C) hippocampus.
D) hypothalamus.

Question 51

Mr.Ahkbar is the principal of a military school that has had only male students.This fall,for the first time,girls are being admitted.The boys are very hostile to this decision,and Mr.Ahkbar is worried that there will be trouble.What would you advise Mr.Ahkbar to do to decrease hostility and better integrate the female students into the school?

A) make sure that all classes have a gender balance
B) have an open discussion of the situation
C) have mixed-gender groups work together on projects with superordinate goals
D) start with single-gender classes and gradually mix the genders

Question 52

In Asch's conformity study,what percentage of participants went along with an obviously incorrect response at least once?

A) 25 percent
B) 50 percent
C) 75 percent
D) 100 percent

Question 53

To create hostility and prejudice between two groups of boys for his Robber's Cave Study,Sherif:

A) had the groups compete with each other.
B) told each group negative things about the other group.
C) started a fight between members of the two groups.
D) clearly favored one group over the other.

Question 54

Shared goals that require cooperation are called:

A) implicit goals.
B) superordinate goals.
C) bystander apathy.
D) deindivdiualization.

Question 55

Cultural fads,like Americans wearing leg warmers in the 1980s or flannel shirts in the 1990s,are often followed because people want to fit in and go along with the crowd.This type of conformity is known as ________ influence.

A) informational
B) normative
C) customary
D) deviant

Question 56

Which of the following explains why professional athletes may beat their personal best performances during a competition?

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

Question 57

How would you rank the following social influence strategies in order of increasing degree of social pressure?

A) conformity,compliance,obedience
B) conformity,obedience,compliance
C) compliance,conformity,obedience
D) compliance,obedience,conformity

Question 58

Mrs.Smith wants to ensure that all of her students are working hard on their group projects.In order to decrease the possibility of social loafing,she should use what type of grading policy for their group projects?

A) allow group members to provide feedback on each other's performances,then give the same grade to each member of a group
B) allow group members to provide feedback on each other's performances,then give each student his or her own grade
C) do not allow group members to provide feedback on each other's performances,then give the same grade to each member of a group
D) do not allow group members to provide feedback on each other's performances,but give each student his or her own grade

Question 59

The door-in-the-face compliance technique,in which people are more likely to agree to a small request after they have refused a large request,works through the principle of:

A) reciprocity.
B) commitment.
C) transitivity.
D) social proof.

Question 60

The primary difference between conformity,compliance,and obedience is the:

A) presence of an authority figure.
B) threat of rejection.
C) degree of social pressure employed.
D) level of implicit motivation.

Question 61

The failure to offer help to someone observed to be in need is referred to as:

A) altruism.
B) the bystander intervention effect.
C) aggressive response.
D) the frustration-aggression hypothesis.

Question 62

If you find yourself in a situation where you need help,what can you do to overcome bystander apathy?

A) make sure you are in a situation with many people
B) make a general plea for assistance
C) point to a specific person and make a direct request
D) act relaxed to avoid scaring people

Question 63

Steve was named captain of his school's basketball team.Because there were a number of players who did not know each other,the team lacked cohesion and did not play well together.Steve knew he would need to do which of the following to help his team succeed as a group?

A) give an incentive to the best player
B) publicly criticize the worst player
C) have many practice games where half the team competed against the other half
D) focus the players' attention on how they could work together to beat a rival team

Question 64

When the U.S.military was integrated,many people expected it to be a disaster.In fact,integration of the military was hugely successful.In terms of social psychology,a major reason for this success was most likely that black soldiers and white soldiers:

A) cooperated on important common goals.
B) had to live and work together full-time.
C) were removed from their original environments.
D) were penalized for not working together smoothly.

Question 65

Research on the bystander intervention effect using a smoke-filled room revealed that most people:

A) surrounded by apathetic confederates will fail to seek help in an emergency.
B) who are by themselves will not seek help in an emergency.
C) who are in the company of apathetic confederates will seek help in an emergency.
D) sought help when they began to show physical symptoms to the smoke.

Question 66

The assault on Kitty Genovese was influential in promoting research on:

A) helping behaviors.
B) social facilitation.
C) obedience.
D) persuasion.

Question 67

According to the concept of reciprocal helping,altruism is adaptive because it increases the person's:

A) potential value as a mate.
B) status within the group.
C) capability as a parent.
D) probability of survival.

Question 68

Aggression may be influenced by all of the following EXCEPT:

A) culture.
B) the amygdala.
C) serotonin.
D) the bystander effect.

Question 69

In what season does more crime occur?

A) winter
B) spring
C) summer
D) fall

Question 70

According to the idea of kin selection,Hannah is most likely to behave altruistically toward her:

A) husband.
B) brother's son.
C) adopted daughter.
D) stepson.

Question 71

As put forth in the book,"among strangers ________ created enemies,but among enemies ________ created friends."

A) cooperation; competition
B) competition; cooperation
C) cooperation; contact
D) competition; contact

Question 72

When are you likely to see the LEAST amount of prosocial helping?

A) when there is 1 bystander
B) when there are 2 bystanders
C) when there are 5 bystanders
D) when there are 10 bystanders

Question 73

The idea of inclusive fitness is designed to explain why:

A) evolution occurs at the level of the gene,not the individual.
B) altruism seems to contradict the principles of evolution.
C) altruism acts through the process of kin selection.
D) evolution involves maximizing transmission of common,not individual,genes.

Question 74

The idea of reciprocal helping applies best to which of the following situations?

A) A student helps her lab partner with a difficult assignment.
B) A father helps his daughter improve her soccer skills.
C) An aunt helps her niece make her wedding gown.
D) An adolescent walks and feeds his pet dog.

Question 75

Each of the following has been shown to be a reason for bystander apathy EXCEPT:

A) diffusion of responsibility.
B) fear of making a social blunder.
C) a high cost of helping.
D) lack of religious affiliation.

Question 76

Studies on the "culture of honor" showed that men raised in the South,as compared to men raised in the North,responded to verbally aggressive behavior by a confederate in a psychology study by:

A) acting in a more aggressive or dominant manner.
B) acting in a less dominant manner.
C) refusing to participate in the study.
D) exhibiting excessive politeness.

Question 77

Who is likely to respond more dominantly/aggressively to an insult?

A) Veronica,a Northerner
B) Matthew,a Northerner
C) Jennifer,a Southerner
D) Kyle,a Southerner

Question 78

Cross-cultural comparisons of levels of violence support the conclusion that:

A) humans have evolved to engage in certain kinds of violence.
B) aggressive acts such as murder derive from basically adaptive behavior.
C) Southern men may behave more aggressively because of a belief system that prioritizes honor.
D) genetic differences account for cross-cultural differences in aggression.

Question 79

Which of the following predictions would the kin selection hypothesis make?

A) A childless couple will help their siblings' children.
B) A gay couple will adopt children of their own.
C) A couple with biological children will adopt another child.
D) A man who has never had children will marry a woman with two kids.

Question 80

The notion of kin selection argues that we are:

A) altruistic to people who give evidence of the best genes.
B) most altruistic toward those who share our genes.
C) most altruistic to relatives because we expect reciprocity.
D) altruistic to our kin group to avoid being ostracized.