Deck 12: Social Psychology

Question 1

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.How would that change 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.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Expected standards of conduct that influence behaviors are referred to as

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

Answer 2

B

Question 3

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.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Cat wants a new laptop.Her husband thinks that this is an unnecessary expense.She initially proposes buying a $2,500 laptop.When her husband gets upset, she suggests that she could get a used laptop for $700.Cat is using the approach.

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

Question 5

Jodie is a member of a jury that is trying to decide whether to award a 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 6

Which of the following best explains the social brain hypothesis?

A)Primates have large prefrontal cortices because they live in dynamic social groups that change over time.
B)Primates have large amygdalae because they need to be able to detect emotions in their group members.
C)Primates have large facial recognition regions because they need to be able to easily identify ingroup and outgroup members.
D)Primates have large pain recognition areas because they empathize with pain experienced by ingroup members.

Question 7

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

Question 8

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 9

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 10

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 11

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 12

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 13

Darius works 2 hours a week as a tutor.He tells his boss 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 14

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 15

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 16

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 17

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

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

Question 18

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)gradual acquiescence theory

Question 19

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 20

Stanley Milgram's experiment illustrated the phenomenon of

A)stereotypes.
B)obedience.
C)resistance.
D)conformity.

Question 21

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

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

Question 22

Which of the following best describes the findings on gender and ingroup bias?

A)There are no gender differences in the expression of ingroup bias.
B)Women show a stronger ingroup bias toward other women.
C)Men show a stronger ingroup bias toward other men.
D)Women show a stronger ingroup bias, except when the grouping is determined by sex.

Question 23

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 24

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 25

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 26

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 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

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 29

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 30

Which of the following is true regarding the identification of ingroups and outgroups?

A)Humans, but not other social mammals, can differentiate between ingroups and outgroups.
B)Humans only begin differentiating between ingroups and outgroups when there are limited resources available.
C)Infants can readily differentiate between ingroups and outgroups.
D)Preschoolers, but not infants, can readily differentiate between ingroups and outgroups.

Question 31

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 32

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 33

Based on the work of Tajfel and Turner 1979), 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 34

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 35

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 36

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 37

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 38

You are designing a group project for your students.Given what you know about how groups influence individual behavior, you set up your group project so that

A)each student is responsible for some component of the project to decrease social loafing.
B)each student's effort on the project is anonymous to decrease social loafing.
C)each student is responsible for some component of the project to increase social loafing.
D)each student's effort on the project is anonymous to increase social loafing.

Question 39

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 40

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 outgroups decrease self-esteem.

Question 41

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 42

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 43

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 44

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 45

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 46

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 47

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 48

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 49

Mr.Ahkbar is the principal of an all-male military school.This year, girls are being admitted and the male students are very angry about this decision.What would you advise Mr.Ahkbar to do to decrease hostility between the male and female students?

A)make sure that all classes have a gender balance to increase contact
B)have an open discussion of the situation so they can vent their emotions
C)have mixed-gender groups work together on projects with superordinate goals
D)start with single-gender classes and gradually mix the classrooms

Question 50

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

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

Question 51

To create hostility and prejudice between two groups of boys attending summer camp, 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 52

Which of the following is a biological determinant of aggression?

A)dopamine
B)pain
C)the MAOA gene
D)temperature

Question 53

Increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex has been associated with which of the following?

A)increased ingroup bias after group assignment via the minimal group paradigm
B)increased ingroup bias, but only for preexisting ingroups, like race or gender
C)observing other ingroup members in pain or being harmed
D)observing a rival team perform poorly

Question 54

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 intergroup contact, why did this approach fail?

A)The groups were too different for students to find common similarities.
B)Contact alone could not overcome existing hostility.
C)Contact can work to reduce some outgroup bias, but not for racial differences.
D)Disparities between the groups deepened existing hostilities.

Question 55

The idea of inclusive fitness is designed to explain why

A)evolution occurs at the level of the individual, not the gene.
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 56

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 57

Shared goals that require cooperation are called

A)implicit goals.
B)superordinate goals.
C)subordinate goals.
D)cooperative goals.

Question 58

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.

Question 59

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 60

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)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 61

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

A)surrounded by apathetic confederates will fail to seek help in an emergency.
B)by themselves will not seek help in an emergency.
C)in the company of apathetic confederates will seek help in an emergency.
D)showing physical symptoms of smoke exposure will seek help in an emergency.

Question 62

In what season does more crime occur?

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

Question 63

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 64

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 65

Which of the following best supports the research on attitude-behavior consistency?

A)Tom's mother died of breast cancer, yet Tom never donates to cancer charities.
B)Derek quickly responds whenever asked about his political attitudes and votes in every election.
C)Harold has a positive general attitude toward the environment and always recycles.
D)Even though helping the homeless is not personally relevant to him, John volunteers at a shelter once a month.

Question 66

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 67

Naomi was raised as a vegetarian by her parents.When she gets to college, all of her friends eat meat.After her first year with these new friends, Naomi finds herself eating meat as well.Naomi's situation demonstrates the effect of on attitudes.

A)classical conditioning
B)implicit attitudes
C)socialization
D)unconscious influence

Question 68

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 69

The assault on Kitty Genovese was influential in promoting research on

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

Question 70

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 71

During the election, you volunteer to make phone calls on behalf of a local democratic candidate.You want to predict the voting behaviors of the people you call.What question should you ask them?

A)You should ask about their specific attitude toward your candidate.
B)You should ask about their overall attitude toward the Democratic Party.
C)You should ask about whether they have heard stories about your candidate.
D)You should ask about their overall attitude toward the Republican Party.

Question 72

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 73

Which of the following best summarizes the findings from Sherif's boys' summer camp experiment?

A)Just putting the two groups in contact with each other reduced the fighting.
B)Having the two groups work on tasks with shared goals reduced the fighting.
C)Neither strategy reduced the fighting, as these groups had a long history of fighting.
D)Hostility was only reduced while they were working toward a shared goal.

Question 74

Which of the following has been shown to be a reason for bystander apathy?

A)a high benefit from helping
B)fear of making a social blunder
C)a low cost of helping
D)lack of religious affiliation

Question 75

Rebecca is studying in the library.She needs to leave her possessions to go to the bathroom.Which should she do to ensure that others help to guard her laptop and books while she is away?

A)leave a note asking people not to take her stuff
B)announce to the room that she will be leaving, but returning again very shortly
C)directly ask someone at a neighboring table to protect her stuff
D)pile all of her materials together, with the most valuable items on the bottom of the pile

Question 76

Jagannath's best friend, Roger, really does not like Jagannath's new girlfriend, Malati.One way that Jagannath might change Roger's attitude is to

A)talk to Roger about how great Malati is whenever the opportunity arises.
B)create lots of situations for Roger to see Malati to increase familiarity.
C)give Roger a large incentive for spending time with Malati.
D)tell Roger that he needs to learn to like Malati for them to remain friends.

Question 77

You are collecting donations for a children's cancer charity.When speaking to potential donors, you ask them a series of questions regarding the charity.Given what you know about attitude-behavior consistency, what information would be the LEAST useful in predicting whether they will donate?

A)whether they have read stories or seen commercials about your charity
B)their specific attitude toward your charity
C)how easy it is for them to retrieve their attitude from memory
D)whether they have any direct experiences with childhood cancer

Question 78

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 79

The failure to offer help to someone observed to be in need when other people are present is referred to as

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

Question 80

Ruomei has never liked biology, but she has a crush on her lab partner and always enjoys going to class because she sees him there.Ruomei's friends are surprised to hear that Ruomei now likes biology and is planning to take another class in the subject.Ruomei's new liking for biology

A)is complex.
B)is implicit.
C)has been socialized.
D)has been conditioned.