Deck 13: Social Psychology

Question 1

It appears that reciprocity only works when:

A) the two people cannot see each other and expect no further contact.
B) men are involved.
C) women are involved.
D) we can keep track of who returns favors and who does not.

Answer 1

we can keep track of who returns favors and who does not.

Question 2

In the prisoner's dilemma, what is done to encourage accused people to confess?

A) They are offered a lower penalty if they confess.
B) They are threatened with shocks or whippings if they do not confess.
C) The prosecutor makes friends with the accused people.
D) They are shown fake films that seem to show them committing the crime.

Answer 2

They are offered a lower penalty if they confess.

Question 3

In general, which of the following factors decreases the probability that a given person will come to the aid of a person in distress?

A) being certain that the person needs help
B) personally knowing the person in distress
C) having other people around who might also help
D) having plenty of time available

Answer 3

having other people around who might also help

Question 4

In a prisoner's dilemma, two prisoners have agreed with each other that they will not confess. Now each of them is offered a deal: "If you confess, we will punish your friend harshly but let you off easy." The probability that they will both cooperate with each other (instead of confessing) is increased if they

A) are in constant communication with each other.
B) have promised each other not to confess.
C) both have a high self-monitoring personality.
D) realize that they both go to prison if both confess.

Question 5

In the prisoner's dilemma, the most dependable strategy is __________, also called "tit for tat."

A) aversivity
B) sharing
C) reciprocity
D) scientific management

Question 6

The presence of many other people will decrease the probability that you will

A) help a person in distress.
B) be influenced by group polarization.
C) make internal attributions.
D) make external attributions.

Question 7

People in a group (especially a group of strangers) are less likely to offer help to a person in need than is a single individual. Of the following, which is the best explanation for this tendency?

A) cognitive dissonance
B) diffusion of responsibility
C) group polarization
D) prisoner's dilemma

Question 8

One person is most likely to come to the aid of a second person if the first person

A) is in a hurry.
B) is alone.
C) perceives much ambiguity in the situation.
D) is in a crowd.

Question 9

One explanation for bystander apathy is that you assume that the other people are not acting because they know something you don't know. This is called

A) diffusion of responsibility.
B) pluralistic ignorance.
C) social loafing.
D) herd mentality.

Question 10

One of the main reasons why people frequently fail to help a person in distress is

A) diffusion of responsibility.
B) cognitive dissonance.
C) the fundamental attribution error.
D) the actor-observer effect.

Question 11

Somebody who studies the everyday behaviors of more or less normal people and their relationships with other such people would be a

A) cognitive psychologist.
B) behavioral psychologist.
C) social psychologist.
D) clinical psychologist.

Question 12

The prisoner's dilemma is a situation in which

A) people are more likely to reach the best possible decision if they fail to discuss it with one another.
B) the response that seems beneficial to an individual is disadvantageous to the group.
C) anything one chooses to do will produce exactly the same outcome.
D) a group of people judge the length of some lines and the experimenter determines whether they conform to one another's opinion.

Question 13

In the Public Goods game, when someone punishes and gains nothing except a sense of justice, it is called

A) just treatment
B) altruistic punishment.
C) equality treatment.
D) equal punishment.

Question 14

To measure the maturity of someone's moral judgments, Kohlberg devised a series of

A) moral dilemmas.
B) psychological tests.
C) social dilemas.
D) clinical tests.

Question 15

To measure the maturity of someone's moral judgments, Kohlberg devised a series of __________, problems that pit one moral value against another.

A) justice dilemmas
B) moral dilemmas
C) equality dilemmas
D) ethical dilemmas

Question 16

In the Prisoner's Dilemma, people often make a self-defeating decision because

A) the choices offered to one person are much more generous than those offered to another person.
B) what seems personally beneficial to each person is harmful to the group.
C) the choices and their probable consequences are not explained until after the person chooses.
D) the choices and their probable consequences are stated in a complex, confusing way.

Question 17

The prisoner's dilemma is an attempt to investigate

A) factors that change people's political attitudes.
B) the development of prejudices.
C) cooperation and competition.
D) under what circumstances people help or ignore a person in distress.

Question 18

One important reason why people sometimes fail to help a person in distress is

A) group polarization.
B) the difference between high self-monitors and low self-monitors.
C) cognitive dissonance.
D) diffusion of responsibility.

Question 19

Psychologists Latane and Darley propose that no one helped Kitty Genovese when she was attacked near her apartment in New York in 1964 because

A) nobody realized she needed help.
B) it appeared that she was the one who was doing the attacking.
C) nobody wanted to get involved out of fear for their own life.
D) everyone knew there were other people who could, and presumably would, help her.

Question 20

It is good to help other people, but only because they may one day return the favor. This sentiment best represents which of Kohlberg's levels of morality?

A) unconventional
B) conventional
C) postconventional
D) preconventional

Question 21

Social loafing generally does NOT occur

A) when people know that their individual contribution can be evaluated.
B) when there are more than 10 people in the group.
C) when all of the group members are the same sex.
D) when there are both men and women in the group.

Question 22

You are sitting in your psychology class, and you do not understand what the professor is saying. You would like to ask a question, but as you look around the room, you see others quietly taking notes, and it looks like they understand. Nobody is asking questions, so you don't either. As it turns out, the majority of the students are thinking just as you are, so nobody asks any questions. This situation illustrates the concept of

A) the diffusion of responsibility.
B) pluralistic ignorance.
C) social loafing.
D) group polarization.

Question 23

A stereotype is:

A) a change in a person's attitude.
B) a situational attribution.
C) a generalized belief or expectation about a group of people.
D) nervous tension one feels when one's behavior does not match one's attitude.

Question 24

Logan is speaking on the phone to Jean. Logan has never spoken with Jane before, but he has seen her picture and finds her very attractive. According to the research on self-fulfilling prophecies, which of the following is most likely to occur?

A) Logan will become nervous and end up disliking Jean.
B) Jean will notice that Logan is nervous and end up disliking Logan.
C) Logan will behave in a friendly way, which will cause Jean to behave in a friendly way.
D) Jean will rate Logan as friendly but unattractive, while Logan will rate Jean as attractive but unfriendly.

Question 25

Expectations that change one's own behavior in such a way as to increase the probability of the predicted event are known as

A) implicit associations.
B) self-handicapping tendencies.
C) self-fulfilling prophecies.
D) aversive attributions.

Question 26

Two people tell you something about Pete, whom you have not met yourself. One of those statements is favorable; the other is unfavorable. Which statement will probably have a greater influence on your impression of Pete?

A) the one you hear first
B) the one you hear second
C) the more favorable statement
D) the one that is stated in fewer words

Question 27

According to the primacy effect in impression formation, you will be more influenced by?

A) ordinary information than by unusual information.
B) physical characteristics than by nonverbal behaviors.
C) information received first, rather than that received later.
D) peripheral rather than central traits.

Question 28

Someone is asked to scream and clap as loud as she can. If she is alone she screams louder than if she is screaming as part of a group of people who are all screaming as loud as they can. This is an example of what psychologists call

A) diffusion of responsibility.
B) conformity.
C) social loafing.
D) group polarization.

Question 29

When we observe the behavior of other people, we are most likely to notice and remember when an __________ individual does something __________.

A) unusual...unusual
B) ordinary...unusual
C) ordinary...ordinary
D) unusual...ordinary

Question 30

Which of the following would decrease social loafing?

A) increase the size of the group
B) make each individual's contribution to the group effort anonymous
C) decrease the importance of the task being worked on by the group
D) convince group members that their contribution to the success of the project is unique

Question 31

Suppose Maria is asked to write down all the ways she can think of to use a brick. She is to write each answer on a card and toss her cards in with those of several partners, and the group with the most uses will be declared the winner. Maria is likely to loaf on the job if

A) she sees her partners working hard.
B) she believes her partners will do the task poorly.
C) she is told that each person's contributions will be announced separately.
D) she believes the others are writing uses for some other object, not a brick.

Question 32

You move into a new apartment, and your roommate tells you the neighbor across the hall is rude and unfriendly. The first time you meet your neighbor, you are somewhat rude and unfriendly, and she behaves in an unfriendly way in return. Your behavior illustrates

A) discrimination.
B) a self-fulfilling prophecy.
C) self-handicapping.
D) the door-in-the-face effect.

Question 33

The process by which we gather and remember information about others and make inferences based on that information is termed

A) information processing.
B) community psychology.
C) cultural knowledge.
D) social perception and cognition.

Question 34

You are asked to "name all the uses you can think of for a brick," writing each one on a card. If you are working by yourself you will probably come up with far more responses than if you are working as part of a group. This is most clearly an example of what psychologists call

A) diffusion of responsibility.
B) conformity.
C) group polarization.
D) social loafing.

Question 35

Social loafing refers to people's tendency to

A) group other people together based on social status.
B) put less effort into relationships that have been ongoing than into new relationships.
C) work less hard when sharing the work with other people than when working alone.
D) work less hard when you have an audience than when you are alone.

Question 36

Our first impression of somebody may influence the way we treat that person and they, in turn, may react in accordance with the way they are being treated. This can lead to what is termed a

A) reaction formation.
B) self-fulfilling prophecy.
C) repression of emotions.
D) mutually beneficial interchange.

Question 37

Professor Fairperson asks all his students to sign their name on the first essay test of the semester, but on later tests he asks them to write only their social security number or some other code. What is the probable reason?

A) He plans to use the identification numbers to form a Likert scale.
B) He wants to avoid being influenced by his first impressions.
C) He wants to decrease test anxiety by promoting a feeling of anonymity.
D) He wants to test the correlation between the students' identification numbers and their performances.

Question 38

The major reason that first impressions are so influential is that

A) they alter our interpretation of later experiences.
B) they are stored in deeper layers of the brain.
C) emotional behaviors are less concealed during first encounters.
D) emotional behaviors are more concealed during first encounters.

Question 39

The "primacy effect" refers to the fact that:

A) the first information we learn about someone influences us more than later information.
B) what people do is more important than what they say when you are forming your first impression.
C) what people say is more important than what they do when you are forming your first impression.
D) unusual information about someone is harder to remember than expected information.

Question 40

Social loafing generally does NOT occur:

A) with team sports.
B) when there are more than 10 people in the group.
C) when all of the group members are the same sex.
D) when there are both men and women in the group.

Question 41

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) and other tests have shown that

A) most White college students are overtly racist.
B) most Black college students are overtly racist.
C) unconscious attitudes influence behavior.
D) there is no such thing as an unconscious.

Question 42

A typical White college student would show the SLOWEST reaction time on the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to which of the following pairings?

A) White person--rainbow
B) White person--peace
C) Black person--joy
D) Black person--famine

Question 43

What is aversive racism?

A) believing individuals are all equal, but group membership makes them unequal
B) consciously expressing the idea that all people are equal, and nevertheless unintentionally discriminating against some groups
C) expressing an unfavorable attitude toward a group of people
D) a stereotype which is correct

Question 44

Different stereotypes are frequently associated with different ethnic groups. Studies of these stereotypes have shown that

A) all ethnic groups are basically the same, and the stereotypes are historical artifacts.
B) most stereotypes are in fact the opposite of the truth.
C) most people appreciate it when they are treated according to group stereotypes.
D) the ethnic groups often agree on the stereotypes, but place different values or interpretations on the stereotypes.

Question 45

When we unconsciously discriminate against members of a group, this is termed

A) aversive racism.
B) unfavorable attributions.
C) procedural justice.
D) group polarization.

Question 46

Research using the bona fide pipeline

A) finds little evidence of prejudice no matter what the condition.
B) finds strong evidence of prejudice no matter what the condition.
C) only finds evidence of prejudice when participants simply view the White and Black faces without instructions.
D) only finds evidence of prejudice when participants are instructed to count the number of Black faces.

Question 47

When presented with ambiguous information about potential job applicants, white college students generally preferred the

A) White applicant over the Black applicant.
B) Black applicant over the White applicant.
C) White applicant over the Black applicant when the information was ambiguous.
D) Black applicant over the White applicant when the information was ambiguous.

Question 48

Gene says that he believes men and women should be treated equally, but he also thinks women just happen to be more nurturing than men and should probably stay home to take care of children. Gene's thinking may reflect

A) ambivalent sexism.
B) aversive racism.
C) external attributions.
D) a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 49

Research has shown that White college students will show a preference for a White applicant over a Black applicant for a job when both applicants

A) are highly qualified.
B) are poorly qualified.
C) expressed a strong desire to manage.
D) have ambiguous qualifications.

Question 50

In the Implicit Association Test, you might press the left button for "pleasant words or insects" and the right button for "unpleasant words or flowers." This test has been modified to measure people's

A) racial prejudices.
B) working memory.
C) bystander apathy.
D) belief in a just world.

Question 51

One reason why many people form stereotypes is that

A) we tend to remember unusual behavior by unusual individuals even if the same behavior is equally common in ordinary individuals.
B) we tend to remember what ordinary individuals have done and then assume that unusual individuals must behave in an opposite way.
C) unusual individuals are not subject to the group polarization effect.
D) we attribute other people's behavior mostly to the situation.

Question 52

The bona fide pipeline technique is used by researchers as a way to measure

A) implicit prejudice.
B) explicit prejudice.
C) internal attributions.
D) external attributions.

Question 53

White college students tend to evaluate

A) White faces more favorably than Black faces.
B) Black faces more favorably than White faces.
C) White and Black faces equally.
D) unfamiliar faces more favorably than familiar faces, regardless of ethnic identity.

Question 54

According to research on the Implicit Association Test (IAT), White college students typically found it easier to pair

A) White names (e.g., Andrew, Brandon) and unpleasant words.
B) White names (e.g., Andrew, Brandon) and pleasant words.
C) Black names (e.g., Jamal, Lamar) and pleasant words.
D) Neutral names (e.g., Thompson, Jones) and affective words.

Question 55

Research on prejudices (racism, sexism, and so forth) has demonstrated that

A) once people are made aware of their prejudices, they tend to go away.
B) prejudice usually disappears when adolescents enter adulthood.
C) even well-meaning people who are doing their best to avoid and overcome prejudice show evidence of prejudice that may be operating at an unconscious level.
D) most people know rather exactly which prejudices they hold, and can take steps to prevent them from appearing in their behavior.

Question 56

When respondents are asked to pair Black and White faces and pleasant or unpleasant words, this is probably a(n)

A) Implicit Association Test (IAT).
B) projective personality test.
C) clinical interview.
D) intelligence test.

Question 57

A typical White college student would show the FASTEST reaction time on the Implicit Association Tests (IAT) to which pairing?

A) White person--cancer
B) White person--devil
C) Black person--bomb
D) Black person--peace

Question 58

Participants in a study are asked to press the left button if they see an unpleasant word or a photo of a White person, and to press the right button if they see a pleasant word or a photo of a Black person. The probable purpose of this procedure is to measure

A) the duration of the attentional blink.
B) subtle prejudices that people do not admit to themselves.
C) how rapidly the average person learns a stereotype.
D) shifts between internal and external attributions.

Question 59

The results of a study by Sherif at a summer boys' camp suggest that an effective way to reduce prejudice is to

A) prevent people from interacting with those whom they are prejudiced against.
B) allow prejudiced groups to compete with each other in friendly competition.
C) require prejudiced groups to work cooperatively toward some common goal.
D) lecture to prejudiced groups about the harmful effects of prejudice.

Question 60

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures

A) personality disorders such as schizophrenia.
B) unconscious attitudes.
C) intelligence as defined by mainstream psychologists.
D) ability to form new friendships.

Question 61

The social psychology term "attribution" refers to the process of

A) changing an attitude.
B) monitoring a situation to determine what other people expect one to do.
C) assigning causes to behavior.
D) discussing a controversial topic with other people.

Question 62

"He got into a fight because he is an aggressive person." This is an example of

A) a biased attribution.
B) an external attribution.
C) an internal attribution.
D) a reflexive attribution.

Question 63

Sharon is smiling. According to Harold Kelley, you are likely to attribute her smiling to an external cause (instead of an internal cause) if

A) Sharon smiles the same amount in all situations.
B) you know that you would not smile in the same situation yourself.
C) Sharon smiles more than most other people you know.
D) Sharon smiles at some people but not at others.

Question 64

Compared to the United States, researchers typically find that conformity rates are higher in

A) Asia.
B) Scandinavia.
C) Australia.
D) Britain.

Question 65

Research on the fundamental attribution error has found

A) gender differences: men rely on internal attributions more than women do.
B) gender differences: women rely on internal attributions more than men do.
C) cultural differences: Americans rely on internal attributions more than Koreans do.
D) cultural differences: Koreans rely on internal attributions more than Americans do.

Question 66

When people are called upon to explain someone's behavior, they are most likely to explain it in terms of personality factors or internal factors when they are talking about

A) their own behavior.
B) someone else's behavior.
C) behavior that changes from one situation to another.
D) behavior that is not surprising because almost anyone else would do the same thing.

Question 67

Cross-cultural research has examined the types of attributions made by Chinese and American participants. Which of the following is the best conclusion from this research?

A) Chinese and American participants make highly similar attributions in nearly all situations.
B) Chinese participants make much stronger internal attributions than American participants.
C) Strong cultural differences have been found, and these differences are due to the ancient traditions within the two cultures.
D) Cultural differences have been found, but it is difficult to determine precisely why or what such differences may mean.

Question 68

Jennifer seems alert and interested during her literature class. You are likely to attribute her behavior to an external cause (as opposed to an internal cause) if

A) you have never met Jennifer before today.
B) most other students in the class seem alert and interested also.
C) Jennifer has seemed interested every day throughout the semester.
D) Jennifer seems equally interested in her other classes also.

Question 69

Scott is unhappy right now, during math class. According to Harold Kelley, you are likely to attribute Scott's unhappiness to internal factors (as opposed to external factors) if

A) almost everyone in the class seems unhappy right now.
B) Scott is always unhappy in math but happy in history class.
C) Scott seems to be unhappy more often than most people.
D) Scott seemed happy three out of the last six times you saw him.

Question 70

Which of the following is an example of an internal attribution for someone's behavior?

A) He contributed to the charity because he saw other people doing so.
B) He contributed to the charity because he had recently read about the great accomplishments of this group.
C) He contributed to the charity because he is a generous person.
D) He contributed to the charity because he needed a tax deduction.

Question 71

If someone behaves the same way others do in a given situation we would probably make an external attribution about that person. This would be an example of making a decision based on

A) consensus information.
B) creativeness information.
C) consistency information.
D) distinctiveness.

Question 72

One effective way to break down the stereotypes that individuals form about one another is to

A) arrange tasks that encourage them to compete.
B) make use of the sleeper effect.
C) arrange tasks that encourage them to cooperate.
D) make use of the forewarning effect.

Question 73

If someone seems friendly most of the time, we tend to make an internal attribution (such as "this person is friendly"). This is an example of making a decision based on

A) consensus information.
B) creativeness information.
C) consistency information.
D) distinctiveness information.

Question 74

The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to

A) use external causes as decoy attributions to explain our failures.
B) feel less responsibility for helping someone when you know that other people are around.
C) overemphasize internal attributions for other people's behavior.
D) silence all disagreement and move quickly toward a group decision.

Question 75

People are most likely to attribute someone's behavior to internal causes when that person's behavior is:

A) the same thing the observer would have done.
B) highly variable from one situation to another.
C) not a free choice.
D) unusual or surprising.

Question 76

Two groups of boys at a summer camp at Robbers' Cave, Oklahoma, each developed prejudice and hostility toward members of the other group. The hostility turned to friendship when

A) the groups were allowed to compete with each other for prizes.
B) the groups were required to work cooperatively toward a common goal.
C) the counselors told the boys they could no longer visit the nearby girls' camp.
D) one group attacked and subdued the other.

Question 77

Harold Kelley proposed that we rely on three types of information in deciding whether to make an internal or external attribution. Which of the following is NOT one of those types of information?

A) consensus information
B) creativeness information
C) consistency information
D) distinctiveness information

Question 78

Using Kelley's (1967) terminology, making an external attribution when someone who is friendly to most people is unfriendly to one particular individual is based on

A) consensus information.
B) creativeness information.
C) consistency information.
D) distinctiveness information.

Question 79

You are likely to attribute someone's behavior to an internal cause (instead of an external cause) if

A) the person behaves differently toward different people.
B) the person's behavior is similar to that of other people.
C) the person's behavior is consistent from one situation to another.
D) you think you would probably behave the same way in the same situation.

Question 80

The process of assigning causes to someone's behavior (including one's own) is known as

A) cognitive dissonance.
B) group polarization.
C) attribution.
D) bias.