Deck 1: What Is Social Psychology

Question 1

What are 3 benefits or rewards one gains from striving for mastery?

Answer 1

Striving for mastery helps us to: 1) form and hold accurate opinions and beliefs about the world, 2) these beliefs help guide us to effective and satisfying actions, and 3) our desire for long-term rewards can motivated us to enhance our skills and knowledge and improve ourselves in other ways.

Question 2

Your text describes two fundamental axioms. Which of the following provides the best illustration of the pervasiveness of social influence?

A) Peter and Mario both witness the same car accident. After the accident, Peter recalled seeing broken glass but Mario did not remember any glass.
B) At a party, Jan says 'no' when offered an alcoholic beverage because he knows his parents wouldn't approve.
C) Both Brooke and Anna took a class from the same professor. After the first day of class, Anna thought the professor was funny and Brooke thought the professor was rude.
D) At her job interview, Jackie thought she appeared very calm but the interviewers thought she looked nervous.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

At the beginning of chapter 1, the different perceptions of football fans from Princeton and Dartmouth were compared. This real world example demonstrates which basic principle?

A) Construction of reality
B) People value "me and mine"
C) Conservatism
D) All of the above

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following is the best example of applied research?

A) The theoretical relation between frustration and aggression.
B) The impact of cognitive load on perceptions of out-group members.
C) The study of support group attendance and long term health outcomes for patients with cancer.
D) All of the above

Question 5

On which of the following are social psychologists most likely to focus?

A) Basic research
B) Applied research
C) Both basic and applied research
D) None of the above

Question 6

Research has shown that individuals from _______ are more likely to explain behaviors as being due to characteristics of the actor, whereas individuals from _______ are more likely to explain behaviors as being due to other people's social expectations.

A) China; North America
B) North America; China
C) South America; North America
D) East Asia; China

Question 7

Professor Bakker just gave a lecture on the embodiment perspective. It is most likely that Professor Bakker included which of the following pieces of information in his lecture?

A) Recent neuroimaging studies have shown that different areas of our brains become active when we perceive faces versus other non-social stimuli.
B) Humans and other animals have developed ways to solve problems that species have been facing since the dawn of time.
C) Compared to people from Western cultures, people from Eastern cultures pay more attention to the situational context.
D) We subtly mimic others' facial expressions and that helps us to understand their facial expressions.

Question 8

Dr. Lee is interested in studying the interpersonal relationships among college roommates. Given her interest in studying such relationships, Dr. Lee's research focuses primarily on:

A) Social processes
B) Cognitive processes
C) Affective processes
D) Personality processes

Question 9

Because of social psychology's preexisting focus on people's perceptions and interpretations of events, which of the following 'revolutions' in the 1960s was not considered a revolution at all in the area of social psychology?

A) The behaviorist revolution.
B) The evolutionary revolution.
C) The cognitive revolution.
D) The affective revolution.

Question 10

According to Kurt Lewin (1936), which two factors are the biggest influence on an individual's behavior?

A) The individual's current goals and social environment.
B) The individual's personality and upbringing.
C) The individual's genes and environment.
D) The individual's thoughts and feelings.

Question 11

Which of the following was NOT an important area of social psychological study during the Second World War?

A) How to persuade housewives to eat more liver and less steak.
B) How humans have evolved to solve certain problems such as detecting cheaters.
C) The roots of prejudice.
D) How to persuade soldiers to brush their teeth more often.

Question 12

Which of the following events impacted the development of social psychology in the 1930s and 1940s?

A) The rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazi domination
B) The influx of European researchers to America
C) The search for answers to practical problems created by the war
D) All of the above

Question 13

With which of the followings statements would social psychologists and behaviorists be most likely to agree?

A) Psychology is a science.
B) Psychologists should study behavior.
C) Behavior is influenced by environmental stimuli.
D) All of the above.

Question 14

Behaviorists like B.F. Skinner and John Watson believed that psychologists should study:

A) People's thoughts.
B) People's emotions.
C) People's behavior.
D) People's feelings.

Question 15

The earliest textbooks on social psychology suggested all but which of the following?

A) All social behavior stems from innate tendencies.
B) All social behavior results from instincts.
C) People are heavily influenced by others.
D) Social psychologists should only study observable behavior.

Question 16

Which of the three motivational principles described in your text refers to people's desire to understand and predict events in their social worlds?

A) People strive for mastery
B) People seek connectedness
C) People value "me and mine"
D) People construct reality

Question 17

Caroline just watched a documentary on her favorite author, who was known to be an alcoholic. The next day, while on the bus, Caroline saw a man walking unsteadily down the street. Based on the principle of accessibility, it is likely that Caroline will interpret this behavior as due to the man…

A) being drunk.
B) walking over an uneven service.
C) being elderly and not as strong as he once was.
D) being blind.

Question 18

Chapter 1 of your text opened with a real world example of the 1951 football game between Princeton and Dartmouth. Explain how this football game represents 3 of the basic principles described at the end of this chapter.

Question 19

Compare and contrast the embodiment perspective with research on neuroscience. How might each study perceptions of facial expressions?

Question 20

Compare and contrast cultural psychology and evolutionary psychology. How would each perspective approach the study of helping among groups?

Question 21

Research in social psychology continues to be influenced by important societal events. Briefly describe two events from each of the following two time periods: the 1930s - 1940s and the 1950s - 1970s and how each event impacted what social psychologists studied during that time.

Question 22

Why have some suggested that Adolf Hitler had the most impact on the development of social psychology? In your answer you should describe events that occurred just before and during the Second World War.

Question 23

How do the views of the behaviorists differ from those of the social psychologists? How are their views similar?

Question 24

Describe how philosophy and physiology both contributed to the development of psychology. Next, briefly describe one of the first studies in the field of social psychology.

Question 25

Compare and contrast cognitive processes and social processes. Next, describe a real world example that illustrates how these two concepts are connected.

Question 26

How is common-sense knowledge similar to scientific knowledge and how are these two types of knowledge different?

Question 27

Educators in a community are trying to rally support to save the arts programs at their schools. What factors will make it more likely that community members are persuaded to vote to keep those programs? Provide support for your answer by describing the study by Axsom, Yates and Chaiken (1987)

Question 28

As the Princeton versus Dartmouth game showed, people often perceive the exact same event in very different ways. Provide an example from your own life that demonstrates how people can see the same event very differently.

Question 29

In which situation would an individual be most likely to process information in depth?

A) When events match an individual's expectations.
B) When an individual agrees with the contents of a persuasive message.
C) When an individual hears others applaud a particular message.
D) When an individual's goals are threatened.

Question 30

_________ is the principle that established views are hard to change.

A) Superficiality vs. depth
B) People strive for mastery
C) Conservatism
D) Seeking connectedness

Question 31

The broad field of psychology developed from the questions being asked by the _________ and the methods developed by the _________ .

A) philosophers; physiologists
B) physiologists; philosophers
C) sociologists; political scientists
D) political scientists; sociologists

Question 32

Unlike other social sciences such as political science and sociology, social psychologists are more likely to study…

A) large societal groups.
B) the social behavior of individuals.
C) the impact of specific historical events on the behavior of individuals.
D) The impact of the media on societal spending habits.

Question 33

As a social psychologist, Dr. Smarty is most likely to study which of the following questions?

A) How do rates of unemployment affect divorce rates in a society?
B) How does ethnicity influence divorce rates?
C) How do divorce rates differ among people of high versus low socioeconomic status?
D) How does the amount of disclosure among couples influence divorce rates?

Question 34

Cultural psychologists would be most likely to study how people have evolved from the time of our earliest ancestors to interact effectively in groups.

Question 35

Attitudes, norms, beliefs, and perceptions are all examples of social, not cognitive, processes.

Question 36

By the 1970s social psychology had matured enough that a number of reliable and repeatable findings had been developed.

Question 37

Social psychological research during World War II focused on finding solutions to immediate practical problems.

Question 38

Some have stated that Adolf Hitler had the most impact on the development of social psychology.

Question 39

Behaviorists such as John Watson and B.F. Skinner believed that observable behavior is the only phenomena that should be studied by psychologists.

Question 40

One of the first studies in social psychology was conducted by Norman Triplett (1898) who showed that people perform easy tasks much faster when they are in the presence of others.

Question 41

The scientific aspect of psychology came from the ancient philosophers.

Question 42

Social psychology is the study of large groups, such as entire societies, rather than individuals.

Question 43

Fans of a football game often perceive the game in the same way, regardless of what side they're on.

Question 44

Individuals only influence us when they are physically present.

Question 45

Emotion and motivation are important parts of every cognitive process.

Question 46

Scientific knowledge is infallible.

Question 47

Scientific conclusions are sounder and more resistant to challenge than common-sense knowledge.

Question 48

Neuroscientists study how our brains represent and process social information.

Question 49

Using research findings to solve real world problems is the goal of basic research.

Question 50

_________ are the ways in which our memories, perceptions, thoughts, emotions, and motives influence our understanding of the world and guide our actions.

A) Cognitive processes
B) Affective processes
C) Social processes
D) Behavioral processes

Question 51

_________ are the ways in which input from the people and groups around us affect our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

A) Cognitive processes
B) Affective processes
C) Social processes
D) Behavioral processes

Question 52

How is social psychology different than common-sense knowledge?

A) It is infallible.
B) It is error-free.
C) It is systematic.
D) All of the above.

Question 53

What is one characteristic of common-sense knowledge?

A) It is often contradictory.
B) It is often based on limited samples of information.
C) It is often inconsistent.
D) All of the above.

Question 54

Which of the following is not an important component of the definition of social psychology?

A) Social psychology is a science.
B) Social psychology involves the study of cognitive processes.
C) Social psychology involves the study of how people perceive others.
D) Social psychology is the study of people's personality.

Question 55

The study by Axsom, Yates and Chaiken (1987), in which students listened to a political candidate discuss the merits of offering probation as an alternative to imprisonment for convicted criminals showed that:

A) When students thought the issue would affect their community, they paid more attention to the reaction of the audience members.
B) When students thought the issue would not affect their community, they were more persuaded by the favorable response of the audience.
C) When students thought the issue would not affect their community, they were more persuaded by the strength of the message.
D) All of the above.

Question 56

In 1987, Axsom, Yates and Chaiken asked students to consider whether convicted criminals should be given probation as an alternative to imprisonment. Each student then listened to a tape in which they heard a political candidate speaking in favor of the issue. The researchers showed that students who thought the issue _________ and who heard _________ on the tape, were more persuaded by the argument.

A) would affect their community; strong arguments by the candidate.
B) would affect their community; weak arguments by the candidate.
C) would not affect their community; strong arguments by the candidate.
D) would not affect their community; weak arguments by the candidate.

Question 57

The study by Hastorf and Cantril (1954) on perceptions of a particularly rough football game between Princeton and Dartmouth showed that…

A) people see what they want to see.
B) people tend to see events in very unbiased and similar ways.
C) the fans from Dartmouth perceived the game to be more violent than fans from Princeton.
D) The fans from Princeton perceived the game to be more violent than fans from Dartmouth.

Question 58

In a classic study by Hastorf and Cantril (1954), undergraduates from Dartmouth and Princeton were asked to watch a film of a particularly rough football game between the two teams and then their perceptions of the game were analyzed. Fans from Princeton were most likely to make which of the following observations about the game?

A) The Dartmouth players acted in self-defense against the hostile Princeton team.
B) The Princeton players acted in self-defense against the hostile Dartmouth team.
C) The Dartmouth players showed good sportsmanship.
D) The Princeton players showed poor sportsmanship.

Question 59

When people process information superficially, they pay little attention to the quality of persuasive arguments.

Question 60

In seeking connectedness, individuals will conform to group norms.

Question 61

We are usually aware of how we are impacted by social influences.

Question 62

How we construct reality is influenced by both cognitive processes and social processes.

Question 63

In social psychology, basic and applied research are equally important.

Question 64

Social psychology is the scientific study of the effects of social and cognitive processes on the way individuals perceive, influence, and relate to others.