Deck 12: Social Psychology

Question 1

When Dirk fails his calculus exam,he is most likely to explain the result as being due to:

A) not having gone to class or studied enough
B) his decision to go out the night before the exam
C) his lack of basic ability in mathematics
D) the exam having been too difficult to be fair

Answer 1

D

Question 2

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

Answer 2

C

Question 3

People are often advised not to make hasty decisions about other people.The research on thin slices of behavior would suggest that this advice is:

A) good because opinions usually change significantly with more information
B) good because information can be evaluated better with more time
C) bad because further analysis usually produces less accurate judgments
D) incorrect because accurate judgments about many characteristics can be made using little information

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following questions would NOT be investigated in social psychology?

A) Why do romantic relationships often fail?
B) Why do fraternities continue hazing despite serious consequences?
C) Why is it so difficult to lose weight or stop smoking?
D) Why does advertising get us to buy things we do not need?

Question 5

Babies begin to prefer to look at a picture of a face,rather than a blank outline of a head,when they are less than:

A) 1 month old
B) 1 hour old
C) 1 week old
D) 1 day old

Question 6

Human beings have evolved as social animals who live in groups.As a consequence,we have also evolved mechanisms to:

A) detect danger from within one's own group
B) distinguish members of one's own group
C) integrate into other groups when needed
D) both A and B

Question 7

A prosecutor in a rape trial needs to be aware of the fact that some members of the jury will likely believe that the woman who was raped must have done something to deserve or provoke the attack.This type of attribution is part of the:

A) just-world hypothesis
B) fundamental attribution error
C) self-serving bias
D) actor/observer effect

Question 8

Weiner's theory argues that in addition to being either personal or situational,attitudes can vary on which dimensions?

A) stable/unstable and controllable/uncontrollable
B) positive/negative
C) controlled/uncontrollable
D) positive/negative and stable/unstable

Question 9

If you had been consulted when Abu Ghraib was being developed for use by the U.S.military,what advice could you have given about minimizing the probability that the prisoners would be mistreated?

A) Establish a clear chain of command and clear responsibilities.
B) Test potential guards and use only those who are psychologically stable.
C) Encourage values by emphasizing group solidarity as Americans.
D) Make sure that the guards are paid well enough not to resent their work.

Question 10

Guilia is a second-grade teacher.In her class this year,she has a young boy from another country.When she tries to make eye contact with him,he always looks away.What would be the most reasonable thing for Guilia to conclude from this?

A) The boy is frightened or uncomfortable with her.
B) The boy has something that he is ashamed of or trying to hide.
C) The boy may have different norms for eye contact.
D) The boy may have different values.

Question 11

Among the factors contributing to the mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib was that the guards:

A) had not received sufficient psychological screening
B) were being taunted and insulted by the prisoners
C) were under pressure to get critical intelligence from the prisoners
D) probably saw the prisoners in a way that dehumanized them

Question 12

The main reason that people make "just-world hypothesis" attributions is that these attributions:

A) increase people's self-esteem
B) make people feel safer and the world more understandable
C) let people avoid their own errors
D) ease people's consciences

Question 13

Which explanation would you be LEAST likely to give for your own behavior?

A) My clothes do not fit right because I have gained weight.
B) I got a speeding ticket because the officer did not like my bumper stickers.
C) My boyfriend did not call after our fight because he is too stubborn.
D) I did not get the job because I am a woman.

Question 14

The statements "I failed the quiz because I was tired" and "She failed the quiz because she is dumb" are examples of:

A) actor/observer discrepancy
B) stereotypes
C) prejudice
D) discrimination

Question 15

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 16

The actor/observer effect is most likely to occur in the case of a negative event.This is due to the:

A) correspondence bias
B) self-serving bias
C) just-world bias
D) personal bias

Question 17

Attributions are our attempts to explain:

A) motives
B) traits
C) preferences
D) all of the above

Question 18

Gamiel takes Aliyah out to dinner for the first time.She is very surprised when he does not leave a tip for the waiter.If Aliyah decides that Gamiel did not leave a tip because he is stingy,she is making a _____ attribution.If Aliyah decides that Gamiel did not leave a tip because the service was terrible,she is making a _____ attribution.

A) situational; personal
B) personal; situational
C) stable; variable
D) variable; stable

Question 19

The tendency to overemphasize personality and underestimate the situation is referred to as:

A) actor/observer discrepancy
B) stereotypes
C) fundamental attribution error
D) discrimination

Question 20

In a recent study,participants were shown 30-second clips of two candidates in a past election with which they were not familiar.The person was asked to determine which candidate had won that election.How accurate do you think the participants were at predicting the winner of the election and why?

A) very accurate; a brief slice of behavior provides significant information
B) not accurate; 30 seconds would not provide as much information as voters had
C) very accurate; all that matters is attractiveness, which can be quickly assessed
D) not accurate; the clip would need to be framed in the context of the election

Question 21

Inga is running for president of the student body of her university.The night before the election,she and her opponent have a debate in front of thousands of people.In reviewing the tape of the debate,Inga is most likely to attribute her own errors to _____ and to attribute her opponent's errors to _____.

A) poor debating skills; insufficient desire for the office
B) lack of preparation; biased questions from the panel
C) confusing questions from the panel; his lack of preparation
D) insufficient desire for the office; poor debating skills

Question 22

Professor Marcus believes that student athletes are lazy and academically incompetent.Every time she has an athlete in one of her classes who is a poor student,she takes note of and remembers it.Every time she has an athlete in her class who is an excellent student,she ignores it.Through this mechanism,Professor Marcus _____ her stereotype of student athletes.

A) justifies
B) maintains
C) makes good use of
D) makes adjustments to

Question 23

Negative feelings,opinions,and beliefs associated with a stereotype are referred to as:

A) discrimination
B) prejudice
C) ingroup/outgroup bias
D) none of the above

Question 24

When Sinead meets Perry,she really likes him.When he tells her that he is on the university basketball team,she decides that he must not have many intellectual or academic interests.Sinead's views are based on:

A) personal prejudices
B) group stereotypes
C) attributional biases
D) cognitive deductions

Question 25

When Lisa is turned away for employment because of her weight,this incident is an example of:

A) prejudice
B) discrimination
C) ingroup/outgroup bias
D) self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 26

When someone employs a stereotype,he is judging a person in terms of their:

A) fundamental qualities
B) background
C) group membership
D) personal affiliations

Question 27

Yolanda is interviewing for a job as an engineer.She is doing very well until the interviewer,a man,asks her if she believes that a woman can handle the responsibilities of being an engineer.After that,she stumbles over answers and becomes distracted.Yolanda is showing the effects of:

A) self-serving bias
B) attributional bias
C) prejudiced attitudes
D) stereotype threat

Question 28

The main advantage of a stereotype is that it _____; the main disadvantage is that it _____.

A) is a mental shortcut; blocks necessary processing
B) identifies critical information; is a mental heuristic
C) is basically accurate; is not very detailed
D) allows for rapid processing; can lead to errors

Question 29

Diego is telling his roommate about his lab partner in chemistry.Because his lab partner is a straight A premed student,Diego believes he is quiet and spends most of his time studying rather than having fun.Since Diego is drawing conclusions from a stereotype,his roommate should _____ Diego's description because stereotypes _____.

A) ignore; are inaccurate
B) accept; are generally true
C) ignore; come from prejudices
D) be cautious about; may or may not be accurate

Question 30

The reason that stereotypes are adaptive is that they:

A) suggest behavioral strategies
B) connect critical concepts
C) evade cognitive limitations
D) prioritize important information

Question 31

Behaving in a way that confirms stereotypes is referred to as:

A) stereotyping
B) discrimination
C) prejudice
D) self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 32

Mandy believes all engineers are unimaginative.Working on the literary magazine,she meets Josiah,who is an engineering major and a writer of fascinating short stories.Mandy is likely to handle this contradiction by deciding that:

A) Josiah is the exception to the rule about engineers
B) engineers can be interesting and creative
C) Josiah does not really want to be an engineer
D) creativity is different in engineers

Question 33

Miriam believes she is not attractive.As a result,she wears drab clothes and no makeup.Whenever a man shows interest in her,she thinks he is just being kind.Miriam's behavior is an example of a(n):

A) attributional bias
B) self-serving bias
C) self-fulfilling prophecy
D) personal stereotype

Question 34

Which of the following statements is NOT a reason that stereotypes tend to be maintained?

A) People pay more attention to stereotype-consistent information.
B) People remember stereotype-consistent information better.
C) People have more stereotype-consistent experiences.
D) People make stereotype-consistent attributions.

Question 35

At what age do infants start to recognize only faces of their own racial group?

A) 3 months
B) 6 months
C) 9 months
D) 12 months

Question 36

Kwamie is interviewing for a job as a software engineer.He has been warned that the person doing the interviewing does not like African Americans and may be hard on him because of his race.Though Kwamie is determined not to let this warning affect him,he performs poorly during the interview.Research suggests that Kwamie may be:

A) too worried about the outcome
B) trying to suppress his negative thoughts and emotions
C) afraid that he will not be able to do the job and too worried about the outcome
D) too worried about the outcome and trying to suppress his fear and anger

Question 37

In making attributions about the behavior of people around them,people from Western cultures tend to emphasize _____ factors and people from Eastern cultures tend to emphasize _____ factors.

A) personal; personal and situational
B) personal and situational; personal
C) situational; personal and situational
D) personal and situational; situational

Question 38

Daiyu is an international student from China who is dating an American student,Zach.Which of them is likely to have a more accurate take on the other person's behavior,and why?

A) Zach; he will take personal and situational factors into account
B) Daiyu; she will take both personal and situational factors into account
C) Zach; he will be able to analyze the personal factors better
D) Daiyu; she will be able to analyze the situational factors better

Question 39

In making causal attributions,people from Eastern cultures differ from those in Western cultures in that they:

A) use more information in making attributions and are less individualistic in their attributions
B) are less holistic in their attributions
C) are more likely to consider dispositional factors
D) use more information in making attributions and are more likely to consider situational factors

Question 40

Jane believes that all blacks are lazy.One of her classmates,Patrick,who is black,has the highest GPA in her high school and is also the star of the track team.How is Jane's stereotype for blacks likely to change given her knowledge of Patrick?

A) She will no longer stereotype blacks as lazy.
B) She will reassess her stereotype and will only attribute laziness to black women.
C) It will not change. Her stereotype for blacks will not allow Jane to even notice Patrick's behavior.
D) She will likely categorize Patrick as an exception to the rule and continue to believe that all blacks are lazy.

Question 41

One brain scan study showed that in white participants,the threat-detecting amygdala is activated _____ on exposure to pictures of black faces,producing immediate negative responses; whereas frontal lobe activity indicating cognitive judgments activated more _____.

A) slowly; slowly
B) slowly; quickly
C) quickly; quickly
D) quickly; slowly

Question 42

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

Question 43

Since coming to college,Roger has eaten many kinds of foods that he had never even heard of before.He has found that he dislikes oysters but enjoys sushi.What difference could you predict between his attitudes to oysters and sushi?

A) He came to dislike oysters faster than he came to like sushi.
B) He dislikes oysters more than he likes sushi.
C) He had a bias against oysters but not sushi before trying both foods.
D) He will be more likely to come to enjoy oysters than to stop enjoying sushi.

Question 44

Tyronne really disliked the latest hit song when he first heard it.He would grimace every time it was played on the radio.After hearing the song many times,he is surprised to realize that he has come to like it.Tyronne is experiencing:

A) resolution of cognitive dissonance
B) the mere exposure effect
C) an implicit attitude
D) peripheral persuasion

Question 45

Lucia has just declared a major in engineering.You could predict that she will now see other engineering students as _____ and see liberal arts students as _____.

A) unique individuals; very similar to each other
B) very similar to each other; unique individuals
C) unique individuals; unique individuals
D) very similar to each other; very similar to each other

Question 46

When white participants in a psychology study were shown pictures of black faces,the _____ was/were immediately activated.With more time,the _____ was/were activated.

A) frontal lobes; amygdala
B) amygdala; frontal lobes
C) prefrontal cortex; hippocampus
D) hippocampus; prefrontal cortex

Question 47

Ted has been assigned to work on a linguistics project with a returning student in her 40s.Ted is worried that his partner will not be as sharp and motivated as a younger student.He recognizes that this is a stereotype and works to suppress it.Research indicates that:

A) Ted will be unable to reduce his stereotyping
B) Ted can simply decide that his partner is smart and his stereotyping will stop
C) inhibiting his stereotyped thinking will be somewhat difficult and require self-control
D) older students are less motivated and his stereotyping is accurate

Question 48

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 49

White participants in a psychology study were asked to decide,as rapidly as possible,whether an object that they had been briefly shown was a gun or a tool.Before seeing the picture,they were briefly shown a picture of either a black face or a white face.When the subjects saw a black face,they:

A) identified the gun more quickly
B) identified the tool more slowly
C) incorrectly identified tools as guns and identified the tool more slowly
D) identified the gun more quickly and incorrectly identified tools as guns

Question 50

When public schools were desegregated,people thought that simply having black kids and white kids 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 kids to find common ground.
B) Contact alone could not overcome ingrained hostility.
C) It might have worked for race but could not work for class.
D) Disparities between the groups deepened existing hostilities.

Question 51

Shared goals that require cooperation can result in reduced:

A) cooperation
B) prejudice
C) understanding
D) none of the above

Question 52

Attitudes are evaluations of:

A) objects
B) events
C) ideas
D) all of the above

Question 53

If people are randomly assigned to Groups A and B,you could predict that the members of each group will:

A) favor members of their own group because of ingroup bias
B) not favor members of their own group because of random assignment
C) not be hostile to members of the other group because of random assignment
D) favor neither members of their own group nor members of the other group

Question 54

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
D) start with single-gender classes and gradually mix the genders

Question 55

Given what you know about the role of gender in creating ingroup/outgroup biases,you could predict that the largest number of close friendship groups would be found in:

A) all-male dormitories
B) all-female dormitories
C) dormitories that are coed by room
D) dormitories that are coed by floor

Question 56

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

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

Question 57

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 58

Nadine does not really know Marcus,but she would like to.Research on friendship formation suggests that her best strategy might be to:

A) talk with one of Marcus's friends about him
B) obviously ignore him to get his attention
C) frequently "accidentally" run into him
D) match her clothes to be similar to his

Question 59

Intelligence analysts whose job is to predict the behavior of people and groups in other countries need to be aware of their tendency toward:

A) ingroup/outgroup bias
B) outgroup homogeneity
C) ingroup favoritism
D) outgroup threat

Question 60

To create hostility and prejudice between two groups of boys for his 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 61

_____ attitudes influence feelings and behavior on an unconscious level.

A) Implicit
B) Explicit
C) both A and B
D) none of the above

Question 62

Song and Prakash are both taking a very difficult and quite boring class in symbolic logic.Song is taking the class because she thought it would be interesting; Prakash is taking the class because it is required for his major.Mia asks them both what the class is like.Based on cognitive dissonance theory,you could predict that Song would say it is _____ and Prakash would say it is _____.

A) terrible; terrible
B) terrible; pretty interesting
C) pretty interesting; pretty interesting
D) pretty interesting; terrible

Question 63

A smaller percentage of Americans vote in elections than do citizens of other democracies.Psychological research on attitudes and on behavior would suggest that the best way to increase voting in this country might be to:

A) make it easier for people to vote, with policies such as early voting or online voting
B) give people accurate and easily accessible information about the candidates
C) have parents talk with their kids each election about the importance of voting and constantly criticize people who do not vote
D) hold regular school elections from elementary through high school

Question 64

Which of the following does NOT increase the stability of an attitude?

A) the personal relevance of the attitude
B) the ease with which the attitude can be accessed from memory
C) the values expressed by the attitude
D) the specificity of the attitude

Question 65

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

A) talk to Roger about how great Malati is whenever the opportunity arises
B) have the three of them do several things together that Roger really enjoys
C) point out all the things that Roger and Malati have in common
D) tell Roger that he needs to learn to like Malati for them to remain friends

Question 66

Psychology researchers approached people who were standing in line to bet on a horse race,and they asked each person which horse he or she planned to bet on and why.Another researcher asked those people the same questions after they had placed the bet but before the race had begun.Given your knowledge of social psychology,you could predict that after placing the bet,people would be _____ about their chosen horse because of _____.

A) more positive; postdecisional dissonance
B) less positive; attributional bias
C) more positive; buyer's remorse
D) less positive; sunk cost fallacy

Question 67

In the medical field,interns and residents are required to work such long shifts that they are perpetually exhausted and do not function optimally.Dissonance theory would suggest that a possible motivation for this policy is to:

A) prepare them to work under highly stressful conditions
B) test their dedication to becoming doctors
C) increase the value they place on being doctors
D) identify those who are too prone to making mistakes under pressure

Question 68

Catalina has gotten an entirely new haircut that she is eager to show her boyfriend.A social psychologist might advise her that initially her boyfriend is likely to:

A) not like the haircut because it is new
B) not like the haircut because she did not ask his opinion first
C) like the haircut just because she is so happy with it
D) like the haircut because having her look different is exciting

Question 69

A presidential candidate's acceptance speech at the party convention greatly influences many voters' views on the candidate.Which of the following people was most likely to have a more favorable opinion of then Senator Obama after his speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention?

A) Zora, who had been an Obama supporter since he announced his candidacy for president
B) Yancey, who is a fervent Democrat but does not know much about Obama
C) Xenia, who only became a Obama supporter after Hillary Clinton dropped out of the presidential race
D) Will, who was a McCain supporter but intensely disliked his negative campaign

Question 70

Larry comes to college absolutely believing that it is wrong to ever drink alcohol.After a while,he starts to drink very moderately at parties even though doing so makes him anxious.What would dissonance theory suggest that Larry will do and why?

A) decide drinking is wrong but he needs to drink in college
B) start drinking more because of his anxiety
C) stop drinking again to resolve his anxiety
D) decide moderate drinking is not really a problem

Question 71

When Van goes to college,he resolves to be a good student even though being on the college football team will absorb a lot of his time and is important to him.When he thinks about what has happened at the end of his day,he usually winds up thinking about football.He has to make an effort to shift his thoughts to what happened in his classes.You could predict that Van will find it much easier to fulfill his football obligations than his academic obligations,because of:

A) attitude accessibility
B) cognitive dissonance
C) implicit attitudes
D) explicit attitudes

Question 72

Imagine you are recruiting people to volunteer to do part-time tutoring of elementary school kids.Dissonance theory would suggest that a successful strategy to enhance the commitment of the volunteers would be to pay them:

A) only a token amount of money for volunteering
B) fairly little to begin with but increased wages over time
C) a large bonus if things go well after three months
D) a large training salary but a fairly low tutoring salary

Question 73

Even though Jacqueline attended a very expensive boarding school,she passionately believes that money and social class are irrelevant to how interesting or valuable a person is.At the first party in her college dorm,Jacqueline,without even realizing it,spends time with only the women who are very well dressed.Jacqueline's belief in social equality is a(n)_____,and her choice of people with whom to talk reflects a(n)_____.

A) implicit attitude; explicit attitude
B) explicit attitude; implicit attitude
C) more accessible attitude; less accessible attitude
D) less accessible attitude; more accessible attitude

Question 74

Kyle was raised in a vegan family.Before he goes to college,his mother tells him that it will probably be impossible for him to maintain a healthy vegan diet in a college dorm and that eating a healthy diet is more important in that situation than eating a vegan diet.Kyle's mom is trying to protect him from experiencing the unpleasant effects of:

A) conflicting implicit and explicit attitudes
B) overcoming socialization
C) extinguishing a conditioned attitude
D) cognitive dissonance

Question 75

When a person eats an unhealthy diet despite knowing the negative consequences,but rationalizes the behavior to decrease the anxiety he or she is experiencing,this behavior is an example of:

A) conformity
B) cognitive dissonance
C) social norms
D) none of the above

Question 76

The United States has been involved in a series of wars,from Korea through Iraq,in which a large majority of the people concluded that the war had been a mistake,whereas the leaders who sent the country to war became ever more convinced of its necessity.Regardless of the actual merits of the war,what psychological concept could explain,in part,the tenacity of the leaders?

A) groupthink in decision making
B) postdecisional dissonance
C) frustration-aggression hypothesis
D) cognitive dissonance

Question 77

Kate comes from a very small town where everyone is white and there is a great deal of prejudice against people of color.When Kate first meets her college roommate,she is very upset to discover that she is black.Kate quickly discovers that her roommate is smart,funny,and empathetic.Kate starts to like her roommate quite a lot,but feels anxious and tense whenever they are together.Kate is experiencing:

A) a conflict between implicit and explicit attitudes
B) the effect of exposure on socialization
C) the process of extinguishing a conditioned attitude
D) cognitive dissonance

Question 78

Controversies have arisen about policies needed to handle illegal immigration.The claim has been made that many people who say they have no objection to immigration from Mexico so long as it is legal are really showing a bias against Mexican Americans.The best way to test this claim would be to have people who hold the belief that they object to illegal immigration but are not prejudiced against Mexican Americans take:

A) a lie detector test
B) a long attitude questionnaire
C) the Implicit Association Test
D) the Thematic Apperception Test

Question 79

Both candidates in the 2008 presidential election were expected to attract an unusual number of crossover voters.All the following people are the children of Democrats and are themselves registered Democrats,but they liked Senator McCain,a Republican.Which of these people was most likely to cross over from the Democratic Party and vote for McCain?

A) Alex, who partially agreed with McCain's position on the Iraq War
B) Bonita, who was excited about voting for the first time
C) Cher, who has never voted for a Republican but believes in voting for a person, not a party
D) Demaine, whose parents have been outspoken Democratic Party activists most of his life

Question 80

When Saqui breaks up with her boyfriend,her best friend,Bradan,asks her to go out with him.At the same time,she meets a fascinating man,who also asks her out.Bradan and the new man each have different attractive qualities.After deciding to date the new guy,Saqui finds that she no longer likes Bradan.Even though he wants to continue their long friendship,she keeps finding more things to dislike about him.Saqui is experiencing:

A) cognitive dissonance
B) attributional bias
C) postdecisional dissonance
D) emergence of an implicit attitude