Deck 15: Social Psychology

Question 1

Which of the following would be an internal cause for making a good grade on the psychology test?

A) "The teacher likes me."
B) "The test items were easy."
C) "I'm smart."
D) "Boy, was I lucky that "B" was the answer on most of the questions."

Answer 1

"I'm smart."

Question 2

Achieved role is to psychologist as ascribed role is to

A) church lay leader.
B) niece.
C) rock star.
D) spouse.

Answer 2

niece.

Question 3

Attribution refers to the process of

A) making judgments about ourselves through comparison with others.
B) making inferences about the causes of one's own behavior and that of others.
C) bringing one's behavior into agreement with the behavior of others in a group.
D) revealing private thoughts, feelings, and one's personal history to others.

Answer 3

making inferences about the causes of one's own behavior and that of others.

Question 4

Changing one's behavior just because other people are nearby is the gentlest form of social influence and is called

A) obedience.
B) conformity.
C) passive compliance.
D) mere presence.

Question 5

The hostile reaction of others as you step in front of them in a grocery store checkout line occurs because you have violated a

A) norm.
B) social status.
C) social role.
D) group structure.

Question 6

Regarding group sanctions, which of the following statements is FALSE?

A) Group sanctions involve being rewarded with acceptance for conformity and being rejected for nonconformity.
B) The more important the group membership is to a person, the more he or she will be influenced by other group members.
C) The risk of being rejected can be a threat to one's sense of personal identity.
D) Because the groups in Asch's experiment were only temporary groups, group sanctions had no effect on the participants' tendency to conform.

Question 7

In American society, special privileges are often bestowed upon persons because of

A) convergent norms.
B) higher structure within the group.
C) the actor-observer bias.
D) higher status.

Question 8

An ongoing pattern of life that is passed from one generation to the next is called

A) group conformity.
B) standard norms.
C) group cohesion.
D) culture.

Question 9

If you were sitting alone in your dorm room, picking your nose, and a stranger entered the room, you would probably stop picking your nose due to which form of social influence?

A) compliance
B) conformity
C) mere presence
D) indirect obedience

Question 10

A person is more likely to conform if he or she

A) has high needs for structure or certainty.
B) has a high degree of self-confidence.
C) lives in a culture that emphasizes individuality.
D) has all of these characteristics.

Question 11

Vanessa is female, a daughter, and a young adult. The roles that shape her behavior are called __________ roles.

A) achieved
B) ascribed
C) ascertained
D) actualized

Question 12

Solomon Asch's classic experiment (in which subjects judged a "standard" line and "comparison" lines) showed that

A) subjects yielded to group pressure in only ten percent of the critical test trials.
B) subjects were not nervous or upset about making judgments different from the group.
C) 75 percent of the subjects yielded to group pressure at least once.
D) when tested alone only five percent of the subjects made errors of judgment.

Question 13

Changes in a person's behavior induced by the presence or actions of others is known as

A) social influence.
B) the actor-observer bias.
C) ethnocentrism.
D) social exchange.

Question 14

If the various roles a person occupies require behaviors that are inconsistent with one another, there is

A) frustration and aggression.
B) role conflict.
C) a lack of cohesion.
D) a social exchange.

Question 15

When we bring our behavior into agreement with the actions, norms, or values of others in the absence of any direct pressure, we are exhibiting

A) conformity.
B) compliance.
C) obedience.
D) adaptation.

Question 16

Meaningful evaluations are based on comparing oneself with people who are

A) experts in the area of comparison.
B) more advanced, but not experts, in the area of comparison.
C) of similar backgrounds and abilities.
D) strangers.

Question 17

To determine whether you are a good athlete, worker, parent, or friend or whether your views on politics, religion, or music are unusual or widely shared, you usually engage in the process of

A) attribution.
B) groupthink.
C) social comparison.
D) social facilitation.

Question 18

In a classic study on social facilitation that involved college students shooting pool at a student union, it was found that when being watched by others, the less confident, average pool players

A) decreased their accuracy.
B) improved their accuracy.
C) showed no change in their pool shooting ability.
D) became extreme showmen and took risky shots, many of which did not pay off.

Question 19

Which of the following do therapy groups, businesses, and sports teams seek to increase because it helps people to work together better?

A) group structure
B) status comparisons
C) group cohesiveness
D) compliance

Question 20

The network of roles, communication pathways, and power in a group is known as

A) groupthink.
B) group cohesiveness.
C) group structure.
D) status comparisons.

Question 21

Understanding people's attitudes is valuable to psychologists because they

A) are useful for studying the interaction between the conscious and the unconscious in our psyches.
B) help to predict people's future behavior and responses.
C) are the most important personality variables.
D) represent the clearest expression of our underlying needs and emotions.

Question 22

Until your recent hospitalization, you thought that the insurance provided by your company was a good plan. However, after numerous phone calls to your company representative and to the insurance company, your attitude toward a national health care plan has changed. This attitude shift is due to

A) an interaction with others.
B) direct contact.
C) the mean worldview.
D) group membership.

Question 23

Which of the following is a FALSE statement regarding the students from conservative homes who attended liberal Bennington College and exhibited a significant shift toward more liberal attitudes?

A) Bennington College would be considered one of their membership groups.
B) Their family and friends would be considered membership groups.
C) Bennington College would be considered their reference group.
D) Their family and hometown friends would be considered their reference group.

Question 24

Which of the following consists of getting a person committed to fulfilling a request and then making the terms of the request less desirable?

A) lowball technique
B) obedience effect
C) authority effect
D) highball technique

Question 25

The core of groupthink involves

A) misguided loyalty, in which group members are hesitant to "rock the boat" or question sloppy thinking.
B) the halo effect, in which group members tend not to question the ideas of the physically attractive.
C) the fundamental attribution error, in which there is a tendency of the group members to look to external causes.
D) cognitive dissonance, in which there is an uncomfortable clash between ideas and behaviors within a group.

Question 26

All of the following are strategies to prevent groupthink EXCEPT

A) stating the problem factually.
B) making it clear that group members will be held accountable for decisions.
C) keeping the group small so a consensus can be reached more easily.
D) encouraging second-chance meetings to rethink important decisions.

Question 27

In Milgram's studies, which of the following circumstances listed resulted in the SMALLEST percentage of subjects obeying the orders of the authority?

A) the teacher and learner were in the same room
B) the teacher received orders by phone
C) the teacher was told the learner had a heart condition
D) the experiment was conducted away from Yale University

Question 28

In Nazi Germany, obedient soldiers, who had once been average citizens helped slaughter more than six million people in concentration camps. When confronted with this atrocious act, many of the soldiers rationalized that they were just following orders, that is they

A) exhibited passive compliance to the Nazi command.
B) succumbed to legitimate persuasion from their superiors.
C) exhibited excessive obedience to an authority.
D) exhibited false attribution to their country.

Question 29

Psychologist Robert Cialdini coined a term to describe the tendency for a person who has refused a major request to later be more likely to comply with a minor request. The term for this compliance approach is called the

A) foot-in-the-door effect.
B) door-in-the-face effect.
C) lowball technique.
D) highball technique.

Question 30

One of the risks taken by parents who allow their children to watch television unsupervised is that they will begin to view the world as a dangerous and threatening place. This is an example of the role of which of the following in attitude formation?

A) indirect experience
B) mass media
C) child rearing
D) chance conditioning

Question 31

Your phone rings, and a voice on the line asks if you will answer a short survey about your Internet service. When you agree and spend the next ten minutes answering questions regarding your Internet service, you have just exhibited

A) obedience.
B) compliance.
C) conformity.
D) pseudostupidity.

Question 32

You have agreed to buy a new car for an attractive low price, then the dealer mentions some extras that you must have and the various city and state taxes that must be added. The price is now becoming much less attractive. This illustrates the

A) highball technique.
B) lowball technique.
C) foot-in-the-door effect.
D) door-in-the-face effect.

Question 33

Lorraine knows that automobiles add to air pollution, and she hates the smog. However, she enjoys the convenience of driving alone to work rather than carpooling or taking the bus. Her attitude did not lead to action most likely because of

A) the lack of a long-standing habit.
B) conviction.
C) the lack of evaluation of others.
D) the immediate consequences.

Question 34

Perry believes that Georgia lost her job because she was incompetent when, in reality, the company was just downsizing. Perry has committed

A) social biasing.
B) the fundamental attribution error.
C) groupthink.
D) discrimination.

Question 35

You and your friend have a fight and say very hurtful things to each other. In judging your own behavior, you say to yourself, "I was justified in saying those things to her because she betrayed me." In judging how your friend acted during the fight, you say, "She had no right to say those things to me. She is a liar and an ungrateful person." In your interpretation of your friend's behavior, you are assigning her a(n) ______ cause.

A) internal
B) external
C) cognitive
D) emotional

Question 36

We are more likely to comply with a request if

A) it comes from someone we know rather than a stranger.
B) it is consistent with our previous actions.
C) it allows us to reciprocate a prior gift, favor, or service.
D) all of these are present.

Question 37

Jake finds guns attractive and desirable, while Arthur feels that guns are threatening and destructive. Their differing feelings toward guns represent which component of their attitudes regarding guns and gun control?

A) belief
B) status
C) emotional
D) action

Question 38

Whether attitudes have real influences on behavior often depends on

A) the degree of agreement among beliefs, emotions, and attitudes.
B) the age at which the attitude was formed.
C) how well the attitude is integrated with other attitudes.
D) the conviction with which attitudes are held.

Question 39

Several of your classmates are volunteering at a nursing home for extra credit, and they tell you how much fun they are having helping with the "parties" and the weekly activities for the residents. Although you had planned to do the article assignment for extra credit, you change your mind and decide to volunteer at the nursing home. Your new attitude was formed because of

A) direct contact.
B) an interaction with others.
C) chance conditioning.
D) group membership.

Question 40

Before the Milgram experiment was conducted, a group of psychiatrists predicted that

A) less than one percent of the people would obey, but 65 percent obeyed completely.
B) 10 percent of the people would obey, but 25 percent obeyed completely.
C) 50 percent of the people would obey, but only 10 percent obeyed completely.
D) 25 percent of the people would obey, and 25 percent did obey completely.

Question 41

Research on persuasion suggests that attitude change is encouraged when the communicator is

A) likable.
B) a novice on the topic.
C) dissimilar to the audience in some respect.
D) an authoritarian personality.

Question 42

When there is no objective standard, we often turn to and observe others in an effort to evaluate our actions through a process known as social exchange.

Question 43

Out of jealousy, we tend to attribute positive characteristics to our out-groups and negative characteristics to our in-groups.

Question 44

According to research, people are more likely to comply with a request made by an impolite person of higher status than an impolite person of lower status.

Question 45

Regarding conversion to a cult, which of the following statements is FALSE?

A) Isolation from family and friends is important to promote the new member's allegiance.
B) Rituals such as chanting and meditation are used to help new members to question their beliefs and reach their own conclusions regarding their life choices.
C) Potential recruits are initially "love bombed" with intense displays of affection and understanding.
D) Making major public commitments creates a great deal of cognitive dissonance.

Question 46

During which stage of brainwashing are prisoners most likely to cooperate with their captors and provide the information requested in order to obtain relief from the abuse and pressure?

A) unfreezing
B) change
C) resolution
D) freezing

Question 47

Finding something attractive or unattractive, desirable or undesirable is the basis for the belief component of an attitude.

Question 48

Crowds, teams, bands, and companies are considered social networks.

Question 49

Vanessa is female, a daughter, and a young adult, which would all be considered ascribed roles.

Question 50

If Pattie enters a restaurant and is served a meal that she tastes and then salts it, we would be most likely to attribute her use of salt to an external cause.

Question 51

In Festinger's classic experiment, college students did an extremely boring task for a long time. Afterward, they were asked to help lure others into the experiment by pretending that the task was interesting and enjoyable. Later they were asked their opinion of the task. Those paid $1 for luring more participants experienced a great deal of

A) conformity.
B) persuasion
C) cognitive dissonance.
D) actor-observer bias.

Question 52

Recently, which of the following psychologists partially replicated Milgram's study and obtained very similar results?

A) Jerry Burger
B) David Buss
C) Stanley Schachter
D) Zick Rubin

Question 53

According to your text, all of the following are strategies that reduce cognitive dissonance EXCEPT

A) changing the importance of dissonant thoughts.
B) adding consonant thoughts.
C) changing your behavior.
D) adding dissonant thoughts.

Question 54

When a friend tells you that she will be vacationing at a particular beach resort, you immediately tell her that you would never go back to that beach resort because on one trip it rained the whole time and the other you got sunburned and sick from the seafood; thus, your negative attitude regarding this beach resort was acquired through chance conditioning.

Question 55

Regarding brainwashing techniques, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A) Brainwashing usually relies on the use of loud music or chanting.
B) The target person has free will to reject the message.
C) Indoctrinators have almost complete control over the target person's environment.
D) Most "converted" victims of brainwashing remain permanently brainwashed.

Question 56

A group that professes great devotion to some person and follows that person almost without question with the members typically being victimized by the leaders of this group in various ways is called a

A) political party.
B) membership group.
C) cult.
D) reference group.

Question 57

Conversion to a cult often includes all of the following EXCEPT

A) intense displays of affection and understanding toward the convert.
B) isolation of the convert from noncult members.
C) drills, disciplines, and rituals.
D) having the convert reflect on his or her own ideas and beliefs.

Question 58

Research suggests that if you wish to persuade an audience, only one side of the argument should

A) be presented to a poorly informed audience.
B) be presented to a well-informed audience.
C) be presented to every audience.
D) never be presented to an audience.

Question 59

Karen smokes two packs of cigarettes a day. However, she is aware that smoking is harmful to her health; therefore, she holds two conflicting or dissonant thoughts. If Karen were to reduce her cognitive dissonance by changing her behavior, she might

A) say to herself, "Smoking really is not that dangerous."
B) seek examples of heavy smokers who have lived long lives.
C) emphasize the addictive nature of nicotine.
D) decide to smoke only when she feels stressed out.

Question 60

When you have "clashing thoughts" regarding your attitudes or self-images, you are motivated to make these thoughts and attitudes agree with your actions because of this

A) conformity pressure.
B) obedience pressure.
C) cognitive dissonance.
D) open-ended role conflict.

Question 61

You have read the research on the importance of exercise, and you want to begin an exercise program, but you haven't so far, which creates a great deal of cognitive dissonance for you. Describe the concept of cognitive dissonance, and explain how your cognitive dissonance regarding exercising might be reduced using each of five strategies.

Question 62

People with high needs for structure or certainty are less likely to conform.

Question 63

The scientific study of how individuals behave, think, and feel in the presence of others is called __________ psychology.

Question 64

In order to reduce cognitive dissonance, people may change their attitude, change their behavior, add consonant thoughts, change the importance of the dissonant thoughts, or reduce the amount of perceived choice they have.

Question 65

The strongest of the five forms of social influence is conformity.

Question 66

Which of the following involves standing up for one's rights by speaking out on one's own behalf, while also taking into account the feelings or rights of others?

A) aggression
B) empathic behavior
C) self-assertion
D) non-assertion

Question 67

A compulsion by decision-makers to maintain each other's approval, even at the cost of critical thinking and good judgment, is called the halo effect.

Question 68

Describe and give two examples of social roles and explain their importance in our daily lives; differentiate between ascribed and achieved roles and provide an example of each type of role; and illustrate with examples the negative effects of role conflicts.

Question 69

Research suggests that if you wish to persuade an audience, only one side of the argument should be presented to a well-informed audience.

Question 70

Overestimating one's chances of being involved in a violent incident is known as the __________.

Question 71

The degree of attraction among group members or their commitment to remaining in the group is referred to as group __________.

Question 72

All groups have unspoken rules of conduct, which establish acceptable behavior in most situations and are referred to as social __________.

Question 73

Describe how attribution theory affects how we think of ourselves and others, and include an explanation of internal and external causes, the fundamental attribution error, and the actor-observer bias.

Question 74

Since you have no objective standards for rating the difficulty of the psychology test you just took, you ask other students who also took the test whether they thought the test was "hard," which illustrates your use of __________.

Question 75

The tendency we have to view internal causes as the reason for other people's behavior is known as the __________ error.

Question 76

Regarding nonassertive behavior, which of the following statements is\are TRUE?

A) Nonassertive behavior is self-enhancing and maintains one's self-respect.
B) Nonassertive behavior often leads to the receiver feeling sympathy, guilt, or contempt for the nonassertive person.
C) Nonassertive behavior often achieves the goals intended.
D) Nonassertive behavior is characterized by all of these statements.

Question 77

If you were riding your bicycle along the bike path when another rider pulls up beside you, you would most likely speed up your pedaling, according to the theory of social facilitation.

Question 78

A mixture of beliefs and emotions that predisposes a person to respond to other people, objects, or institutions in a positive or negative way is called a(n) __________.

Question 79

The ongoing pattern of life that is passed from one generation to the next is called __________.

Question 80

Any group whose values and attitudes are seen as relevant to one's own is referred to as one's __________ group.