Deck 11: Social Psychology

Question 1

Your friend took a security guard position to help defray the costs of tuition. When you stopped by to visit him on the job you found he was acting differently. He was more serious and professional. Your friend was using ________ to guide his actions as a guard, which were likely learned from film or literature depictions of security guards.

A) their instincts
B) personal history
C) media-produced stereotypes
D) scripts
E) inventories

Answer 1

scripts

Question 2

Social psychology is the scientific study of how a person's behavior, thoughts, and feelings are influenced by

A) cognition.
B) mental processes.
C) others.
D) psychology.
E) neurotransmitters.

Answer 2

others.

Question 3

In Hawaii, few business meetings involve people wearing formal suits. To fit in, someone who is from the U.S. mainland who is used to wearing suits will have to

A) experience blind obedience.
B) learn norm crystallization.
C) adjust to new social norms.
D) experience the Milgram effect.
E) diffuse responsibility.

Answer 3

adjust to new social norms.

Question 4

The key determinant of individual behavior, according to social psychology, is the

A) social situation.
B) individual's personality.
C) person's temperament.
D) bystander effect.
E) individual's upbringing.

Question 5

This is the tendency to mimic other people in order to fit in. We see this happen quite often in the clothes people wear, the leisure activities they participate in, and even in their mood:

A) bystander effect
B) authority effect
C) standard effect
D) script effect
E) chameleon effect

Question 6

________ researched the attitudes of conservative students enrolled at a liberal women's college in the 1930s.

A) Gordon Allport
B) Solomon Asch
C) Norman Triplett
D) Theodore Newcomb
E) Christina Maslach

Question 7

The socially defined aspects that influence behavior are both the ________ of the individual, and the ________ of the group.

A) personal characteristics; cohesiveness
B) social role; norms
C) beliefs; composition
D) motivation; conformity
E) likes and dislikes; friendliness

Question 8

A social psychologist would explain your behavior at a party with many people you do not know, as strongly determined by

A) what you have had to eat and drink.
B) your level of shyness.
C) how you have behaved at other parties.
D) the time and place of the party.
E) how others are behaving.

Question 9

In Stanley Milgram's experiments, the "Teacher" was instructed to

A) state which line was the longest.
B) tell people when to give shocks.
C) learn lists of memory words.
D) administer shocks to the "Learner."
E) help people during a staged emergency.

Question 10

George is normally loud and boisterous, but he uses a soft voice when speaking to a police officer. This change in voice occurs through

A) the bystander-effect.
B) the principle of proximity.
C) situationism.
D) an in-group bias.
E) the matching hypothesis.

Question 11

A person adjusting to a new group will most likely learn about the new group norms through the process of

A) reading the group orientation manual.
B) noting the uniformity and regularity of certain behaviors.
C) trial-and-error.
D) noting the negative consequence that follow when a group member violates a group norm.
E) B and D are

Question 12

Social ________ refers to the real, imagined, or symbolic presence of other people.

A) obedience
B) conformity
C) loafing
D) context
E) obligation

Question 13

A twenty-year follow-up on the Bennington College study found that

A) people eventually tend to stick with the same values as their parents.
B) the attitudes adopted in college lasted for decades.
C) conformity was part of role playing, but it never internalized.
D) the conservative family upbringing of the students eventually changed the attitudes of the college.
E) people tend to marry people with opposing political values.

Question 14

A(n) ________ refers to one of several socially defined behavior patterns expected of a person in a particular setting or group.

A) self-fulfilling prophecy
B) demand characteristic
C) informational influence
D) social role
E) situational prophecy

Question 15

Which statement correctly characterizes one aspect of Stanley Milgram's study of obedience?

A) Subjects were shown an ominous-looking shock machine that was marked 0 to 450 volts.
B) Participants in the study were randomly assigned to be teachers or learners.
C) Participants were shocked when they made errors in reciting word pairs.
D) A learner and the teacher sat side by side across from the shock machine.
E) Participants were assigned to "play" a prison guard or a prison inmate.

Question 16

The Bennington College study involved students from conservative homes who attended a college with liberal faculty members. The students tended to

A) become more liberal over time.
B) have values that did not change.
C) cling firmly to their conservative values.
D) drop out of the school within one semester.
E) initially adopt liberal values, but ultimately returned to their original beliefs.

Question 17

________ is the field that studies human interactions and behaviors.

A) Psychobiology
B) Social psychology
C) Humanistic psychology
D) Normative behavior
E) Sociobiology

Question 18

Situationism assumes that ________ influences people's behavior, feelings, and thoughts to a greater degree than innate personality.

A) the person's childhood
B) past experience
C) thinking patterns
D) the environment
E) a person's health

Question 19

The fact that many Americans do not approve of public nudity is most likely due to

A) mutual interdependence.
B) social reality.
C) social loafing.
D) prevailing social norms.
E) cognitive dissonance.

Question 20

Situation is to behavioral context as disposition is to

A) thought.
B) social standards.
C) inner characteristics.
D) maturation.
E) childhood rearing.

Question 21

Conformity refers to the tendency for people to

A) behave in ways that they want to.
B) publicly tell others how to act.
C) assist those who need help in unfamiliar circumstances.
D) adopt the behaviors and opinions presented by others.
E) not care about how other people are behaving.

Question 22

In the revised Asch studies, most people

A) continued administering shocks.
B) acted independently.
C) played the role of prisoner or guard.
D) made accurate judgments every time.
E) conformed at least once.

Question 23

Asch's initial studies showed that overall conformity to group pressure occurred about ______ of the time.

A) one-fifth
B) one-third
C) one-half
D) three-fourths
E) all

Question 24

People are more likely to conform when

A) a judgment task is ambiguous.
B) group members are perceived as biased.
C) their responses are kept private.
D) they have an ally who also goes against the group.
E) the group is 1-2 people.

Question 25

It is 1951, and you are required to participate in a perception experiment. You join seven others seated in a room. You are shown a 10-inch test line and must choose the line that matches it in length from a choice of three lines. The experimenter, Solomon Asch, is studying

A) bystander apathy.
B) social loafing.
C) groupthink.
D) conformity.
E) interpersonal attraction.

Question 26

In Solomon Asch's study on conformity, the number of confederates was found to have a significant impact on the participants' likelihood of giving an incorrect answer. How many confederates did Asch find maximized the likelihood of conformity occurring?

A) 2
B) 3
C) 6
D) 12
E) 15

Question 27

The Asch effect would be expected to operate in cases where

A) there is secret balloting to decide the new class president.
B) jurors discuss whether someone is guilty in a jury trial.
C) an entire class is getting high grades on a psychology exam.
D) people write responses to an essay contest on "Why I Love America."
E) a doctor must determine her patient's diagnosis independently.

Question 28

The main task of the Solomon Asch studies was

A) selecting paint colors.
B) judging line sizes.
C) rating new fashions.
D) taste-testing new candies.
E) assessing depth perception in toddlers.

Question 29

Asch found that the likelihood of conformity increased with group size until ______ confederates were present.

A) three
B) four
C) five
D) six
E) eight

Question 30

Voluntarily yielding to social norms, even at the expense of one's own preference, is called

A) obedience.
B) submission.
C) conformity
D) compliance.
E) infatuation.

Question 31

Experiments showing the effects of group pressure on conformity were conducted by

A) Asch.
B) Milgram.
C) Luchens.
D) Singer.
E) Kagan.

Question 32

The ________ refers to the influence of a group majority on individual judgments.

A) bystander effect
B) Asch effect
C) scapegoating scenario
D) demand situation
E) cognitive dissonance error

Question 33

"Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman!" If you looked up, would you be conforming?

A) Yes. You would be looking up because you were told to do so.
B) No. Conformity requires that you base your behavior on what other people are doing, not being told to do so.
C) Yes. Conformity means doing what you are told or else.
D) No. Looking up only means you are curious.
E) No. Looking up was a voluntary action, while conformity refers to reflexive actions.

Question 34

Which factor significantly decreased the likelihood of conformity in Solomon Asch's studies?

A) The task difficulty was increased.
B) The confederates were all adults.
C) One confederate gave a
D) The participants were given two chances at responding.
E) All but two confederates were removed from the room.

Question 35

The Asch effect is known as the classic illustration of

A) intelligence.
B) conformity.
C) confusion.
D) obeying authority.
E) diffusion of responsibility.

Question 36

Vince has always believed children deserve the best prenatal care available. During a class discussion, he hears the first of several speakers express very negative attitudes toward spending tax money on prenatal care for the poor. When it is his turn to speak, he voices an opinion more in keeping with the previous speakers. Vince's behavior is an example of

A) compliance.
B) persuasion.
C) conformity.
D) obedience.
E) prejudice.

Question 37

People are least likely to conform when

A) a judgment task is unambiguous.
B) the group has cohesive opinion.
C) group members are competent.
D) voting is public.
E) the group size three or more.

Question 38

Solomon Asch is best known for his studies involving

A) conformity.
B) prisoners.
C) teen-age camping groups.
D) administering shocks to an elderly man.
E) liberal and conservative attitudes.

Question 39

Drew is Jewish, but today he will attend a Lutheran church with his friend, Cheryl. If Drew were to ________, it would be an example of the Asch effect.

A) try to convert Cheryl to Judaism
B) study the Lutheran religion before going there
C) look for similarities between the religions
D) find things to dislike about the Lutheran faith
E) do what the other churchgoers are doing

Question 40

In Solomon Asch's study, which factor increased the rate of conformity?

A) The task difficulty was decreased.
B) The confederates were all adults.
C) The confederates were unanimous in their selection of line size.
D) The participants were given two chances at responding.
E) The participants gave their answers using "secret ballot."

Question 41

Which statement best describes an important finding of Milgram's classic research?

A) Individuals easily conform to group norms.
B) The presence of other people makes aggression more likely.
C) People will easily obey an authority figure and do harm to others.
D) Agreeing to a small request makes it more likely you will agree to a big request.
E) People will take leave of their own opinions just to "be like" a larger group.

Question 42

The results of Milgram's studies of obedience challenges the myth that

A) bystanders rarely intervene.
B) relative status has minimal influence on obedience.
C) only certain people would blindly follow orders to harm another.
D) women are more obedient than men.
E) A and D are

Question 43

When members of a group give priority to the cohesiveness of the group over the facts of a situation, they are engaging in what social psychologists call

A) groupthink.
B) mass thought.
C) consumerism.
D) solidarity think.
E) social facilitation.

Question 44

After a group of gang members learned that their friend had died in a seemingly random accident, several of the friends started blaming a rival gang for the death. Even though there was no evidence whatsoever that the death had been intentional, the more the friends talked the more passionate they became in their belief that an act of revenge was necessary. What concept from social psychology may contribute to an act of violent revenge in this case?

A) social influence
B) prosocial behavior
C) altruism
D) groupthink
E) social loafing

Question 45

The obedience effect is much stronger when

A) the relative status of the authority figure to the subject is low.
B) there is no direct surveillance of the subject by the authority figure.
C) there is little remoteness of victim from subject.
D) a peer first models obedience to the authority figure.
E) two authority figures give conflicting commands.

Question 46

The decision to invade Iraq in 2003 may represent an instance of

A) obedience.
B) scapegoating.
C) groupthink.
D) prejudice.
E) A and D are

Question 47

In Milgram's obedience study, the "Teachers" shocked the "Learners" over and over again and ________ of the volunteers went all the way up to the maximum shock level of 450 volts.

A) 55%
B) 60%
C) 65%
D) 70%
E) 75%

Question 48

Naïve subjects in the Stanley Milgram experiment were given the opportunity to administer shocks to helpless victims. What was the maximum voltage that could be administered in one shock?

A) 100 volts
B) 450 volts
C) 625 volts
D) 999 volts
E) 1000 volts

Question 49

Carlos and his work associates form a close, friendly group, and they usually work well together. However, they may face a problem involving an extreme form of conformity called

A) fundamental attribution error.
B) generational identity.
C) groupthink.
D) self-serving bias.
E) the proximity effect.

Question 50

By providing social models of peers who rebel against the experimenter, Milgram could get compliance rates as to drop to

A) 10%.
B) 15%.
C) 30%.
D) 45%.
E) 50%.

Question 51

The mass deaths that occurred in Jonestown, Heaven's Gate, and at the Branch Davidian Compound are examples of the power of

A) scapegoating.
B) the principle of proximity.
C) cognitive dissonance.
D) diffusion of responsibility.
E) obedience.

Question 52

Close, friendly groups usually work well together, but they may face a problem involving an extreme form of conformity called

A) fundamental attribution error.
B) groupthink.
C) generational identity.
D) self-serving bias.
E) social facilitation.

Question 53

Imagine 100 individuals are asked to take part in a replication of Milgram's famous study on obedience. How are these 100 people likely to respond?

A) The majority would administer 450 volts as instructed.
B) The majority would immediately realize the use of deception and leave.
C) Most of the women would refuse to obey, whereas almost all of the men would obey.
D) Most of the participants would work together to force the experimenter to end the experiment.
E) The men would give strong voltage shocks, but only to female "learners."

Question 54

By allowing a new Teacher to first observe someone else administering the final shock level, Milgram could get compliance rates as high as

A) 65%.
B) 70%.
C) 85%.
D) 90%.
E) 95%.

Question 55

The experiments of ________ were a powerful demonstration of obedience to authority.

A) Freud
B) Newcomb
C) Asch
D) Milgram
E) Zimbardo

Question 56

The prime minister notices that her closest advisors never seem to disagree with her or with each other on a lot of important issues, such as arms control. She worries that she is not getting the pros and cons of different issues because her advisors are engaging in

A) latent obedience.
B) intrinsic reinforcement.
C) latent learning.
D) groupthink.
E) bystander apathy.

Question 57

Psychiatrists predicted that only fewer than _____ of the participants would go all the way to 450 volts in the Milgram experiments.

A) 1%
B) 2%
C) 3%
D) 8%
E) 12%

Question 58

This area of research uses methodologies from the brain sciences to investigate various types of social behavior such as stereotyping in prejudice, attitudes, self-control, and emotional regulation:

A) social psychoscience
B) social bioscience
C) social neuroscience
D) psychosocial neuroscience
E) psychosocial biology

Question 59

Obedience to an authority figure in a Milgram study was most likely when

A) they are the only ones obeying.
B) the victim is nearby.
C) the authority figure has low status.
D) they have psychological problems.
E) the authority figure is nearby to the Teacher.

Question 60

A social psychologist has been invited to give a community lecture on the importance of Milgram's research. He asks a social psychology class for suggested titles. Which of the following titles might they suggest as the most appropriate?

A) "Obedience and Aggression Are Inborn"
B) "Do Not Underestimate the Power of Perceived Authority"
C) "Training in Ethics Can Overcome the Pull of Obedience"
D) "Make a Small Request First and the World Can Be Yours"
E) "The Jigsaw Classroom and Reducing Racism"

Question 61

The best predictor of whether a person will respond in an emergency situation is

A) the size of the group.
B) the personalities of the people in the group.
C) the location of the situation.
D) the ethnicity of those involved.
E) how often people have helped others previously.

Question 62

The murder of Kitty Genovese and the lack of timely help she received from her neighbors illustrated

A) bystander apathy.
B) the principle of proximity.
C) social control.
D) scapegoating.
E) obedience to authority.

Question 63

The Kitty Genovese case depicts

A) social loafing.
B) group polarization.
C) the bystander intervention problem.
D) obedience to authority.
E) social facilitation.

Question 64

A car crash woke John from his afternoon nap. When he looked out his apartment window, he saw several people milling around two smashed cars. He decided not to dial 911 because he assumed someone had already called. John's reaction is an example of

A) the bystander intervention problem.
B) pluralistic compliance.
C) obedience to authority.
D) conformity to social norms.
E) social loafing.

Question 65

In a crowded mall parking lot, dozens of people hear a female voice yell, "He's killing me!" Yet no one calls the police. What is the reason for the lack of action, according to Darley and Latané?

A) People are too busy to respond.
B) Most people "do not want to become involved."
C) The fight-or-flight response is not activated when others are in danger.
D) Diffusion of responsibility is the reason most people do not respond.
E) Social loafing is the reason why people do not respond.

Question 66

What term do psychologists use for the phenomenon that occurs when people are less likely to aid a person in trouble if there are other people around who are also potential helpers?

A) bystander intervention problem
B) sole-witness effect
C) subtle aggressive effect
D) antisocial behavior effect
E) the chameleon effect

Question 67

As a result of diffusion of responsibility, people in a bystander situation tend to

A) obey authority figures.
B) do what others do.
C) be attracted to those similar to themselves.
D) be less likely to help others.
E) try to control others' behavior.

Question 68

Which of the following is NOT one of the "Ten Steps toward Evil"?

A) Make it difficult to exit the situation.
B) Provide people with social models of compliance.
C) Encourage group members to dehumanize the victim.
D) Provide people with an ideology that can be used to justify beliefs for action.
E) Encourage members of the group to dissent in word and action.

Question 69

Moriarity's research involved

A) conformity.
B) obedience.
C) attraction.
D) attributions.
E) situational power.

Question 70

A key implication of Stanley Milgram's research is that

A) discrimination is widespread across the United States.
B) the bystander effect occurs in vague conditions.
C) conformity is limited to laboratory studies.
D) the similarity principle can explain the authoritarian personality.
E) the power of the situation can induce an ordinary person to harm another.

Question 71

Subjects in Moriarity's theft studies were more likely to intervene if

A) they had been attracted to the victim.
B) the victim had never spoken to them.
C) the victim had asked them "Do you have the time?"
D) they had been asked to watch the victim's property.
E) they had enough time to help out.

Question 72

According to the research of Latané and Darley, which of the following situations would be the most likely in which someone would offer to help?

A) person on the side of the road with a flat tire during rush hour
B) person asking for help in a crowded stadium parking lot
C) person falling down coming out of an elevator with only one other person in it
D) a student falling off a ladder outside a full classroom
E) a mechanic in a crowded garage who drops a heavy tool on his foot

Question 73

Laboratory studies of bystander intervention indicate that the likelihood of intervention ________ as the number of bystanders ________.

A) decreased; increased
B) decreased; decreased
C) increased; increased
D) was unchanged; increased
E) increased; decreased

Question 74

The high school football team viewed the opposing team as not only competitors but as the

A) progroup.
B) antigroup.
C) ingroup.
D) outgroup.
E) regroup.

Question 75

The studies of Latané and Darley attempted to determine the

A) types of people to whom we are attracted.
B) speed at which subjects would report an emergency.
C) severity of a victim's seizure.
D) degree of obedience displayed by subjects.
E) personality of bystanders.

Question 76

People are most likely to help out soon in an emergency situation if

A) they believe others are available to help.
B) they have an outgoing personality.
C) they have an unusual personality.
D) others are doing nothing.
E) there are few others who can help.

Question 77

When there is a large group of bystanders, individuals are likely to experience

A) diffusion of responsibility.
B) peer pressure.
C) blind obedience.
D) situationism.
E) the similarity principle.

Question 78

If Tess has lost her contact lens, she is most likely to get help from others if she

A) says aloud, "Will someone please help me?"
B) specifically asks one person for help.
C) stays quiet and starts searching.
D) begins crying loudly.
E) is obviously in a hurry.

Question 79

Which of these strangers is most likely to help a woman who has fainted at the mall?

A) Erika, who has had CPR training
B) Leah, who is late for piano practice
C) Sara, who is delivering pizza
D) Matt, who is homeless
E) Zeb, who is a famous actor

Question 80

A contrived emergency was used by ________ to model the issue of the bystander intervention problem.

A) Stanley Milgram
B) Robert Sternberg
C) Solomon Asch and Robert Stradlater
D) Bibb Latané and John Darley
E) Kitty Genovese