Deck 10: Behavior in Social and Cultural Context

Question 1

_______________ generally have the greatest conversational distance compared to other cultures;that is,they stand further apart when they converse.

A)Southern Europeans
B)Arabs
C)English and Swedes
D)Latin Americans

Answer 1

English and Swedes

Question 2

In the famous Milgram experiment on obedience,who received a shock?

A)the "learner"
B)no one
C)the confederate
D)the subject

Answer 2

no one

Question 3

Doni enters an elevator and stands in it facing the back instead of turning around to face the elevator door.Doni is violating

A)her gender role.
B)a social role.
C)a norm.
D)a stereotype.

Answer 3

a norm.

Question 4

A __________ is a given social position that is governed by a set of norms for proper behavior.

A)norm
B)role
C)routine
D)stereotype

Question 5

While at work,Nora is a pilot who flies commercial airlines.At home she is a mother,wife,daughter,and sister.These are several of Nora's

A)cultural norms.
B)routines.
C)social roles.
D)occupations.

Question 6

Rules that regulate human life,including explicit laws and implicit cultural conventions,are called

A)norms.
B)roles.
C)routines.
D)stereotypes.

Question 7

In the Milgram study,_______________ predicted that most people would refuse to go beyond 150 volts when administering shock to other people.

A)professionals
B)nonprofessionals
C)both professionals and nonprofessionals
D)no one

Question 8

What did Milgram study?

A)the authoritarian personality
B)bystander apathy
C)the effects of watching violence on television
D)obedience to authority

Question 9

According to your textbook,more than half of hotel guests agree to reuse their towels when hotels put notices in guest bathrooms that say

A)"please recycle your towels."
B)"the majority of guests in this room reuse their towels."
C)"recycling towels is good for the environment."
D)"it is wasteful to only use a towel once."

Question 10

About _______________ of all participants in Milgram's study administered the highest level of shock to the learner.

A)a fourth
B)a third
C)half
D)two-thirds

Question 11

Requirements of a __________ may be so strong that they may cause you to behave in ways that shatter your fundamental sense of the kind of person you are.

A)norm
B)rule
C)culture
D)social role

Question 12

Which statement best describes an aspect of Stanley Milgram's study of obedience?

A)an ominous-looking shock machine had voltage markings from zero 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

Question 13

Before Stanley Milgram conducted his study on obedience,he asked a number of psychiatrists,students,and middle-class adults how many people would go all the way to the highest voltage under the instructions of the authority.Milgram found that

A)psychiatrists accurately predicted that about 45 percent of the participants would inflict what they thought were dangerous amounts of shock.
B)students and middle-class adults accurately predicted that about 25 percent of the participants would inflict what they thought were dangerous amounts of shock.
C)psychiatrists predicted that one person in a thousand would administer the highest voltage and the nonprofessionals agreed with this statement.
D)psychiatrists,students,and middle-class adults accurately predicted that about 15 percent of the participants would inflict what they thought were dangerous amounts of shock.

Question 14

Tahir,an Arab,and Jan,a Swede,meet at a dinner for international students.Because the cultures of the two men differ in regard to _______________,both may feel uncomfortable during their conversation.

A)knowledge of U.S.etiquette
B)attitudes toward higher education
C)explicit laws
D)conversational distance

Question 15

Social conventions,explicit laws,and implicit cultural standards are examples of

A)norms.
B)roles.
C)routines.
D)stereotypes.

Question 16

Research on social roles suggests that

A)people usually follow social roles with conscious deliberation.
B)social roles are fairly independent of culture.
C)they are based almost entirely on gender.
D)certain aspects of every role must be carried out or there will be penalties.

Question 17

Each person has _______________ social role(s).

A)one
B)two
C)three
D)many

Question 18

Dr.Quizzmon is a social psychologist.Given his interest in social psychology,which of the following questions is he most apt to research?

A)How are attitudes toward war formed?
B)What is the biological basis of depression?
C)How can one become self-actualized?
D)What are the major milestones in infant motor development?

Question 19

_______ found that normal people in normal times will often follow orders to hurt innocent people.

A)Solomon Asch
B)Kurt Lewin
C)Carolyn Sherif
D)Stanley Milgram

Question 20

In the Milgram experiment on obedience,the _______ was a confederate of the experimenter.

A)subject
B)female subject
C)learner
D)normal person

Question 21

Results of Stanley Milgram's study on obedience showed that

A)about two-thirds of the subjects stopped delivering shocks when the learner first demanded to be free.
B)about two-thirds of the subjects,from all ages and from all walks of life,obeyed to the fullest extent.
C)almost 90 percent of the women and about 60 percent of the men stopped administering shocks even though the experimenter said,"The experiment requires that you continue."
D)about 90 percent of the older adults and about 60 percent of the students stopped administering shocks even though the experimenter said,"The experiment requires that you continue."

Question 22

Your textbook describes 25 men who served as Greek military police.At first the men were only ordered to stand guard outside while people were being tortured.Over time,they were ordered to play a larger and larger role,until they found it fairly easy to torture another human being.What concept does their story demonstrate?

A)social roles
B)entrapment
C)the Milgram effect
D)handing over responsibility to authority

Question 23

Which of the following actions by the "learner" reduced the likelihood of being shocked by the "teacher" in Milgram's obedience study?

A)protesting noisily
B)screaming in pain
C)complaining of having a heart ailment
D)nothing the learner did made a difference

Question 24

Milgram concluded that obedience in his study was a function of

A)the religious beliefs of the participant.
B)the personality of the participant.
C)the responses made by the learner.
D)the situation of the experiment.

Question 25

When Milgram and his team set up several variations of his original study,they found that people were more likely to disobey when

A)the learner was in an adjoining room so the "teacher" heard every sound the victim made.
B)two experimenters had conflicting demands about the continuation of the experiment.
C)the person ordering them to continue was a Ph.D.and wore a lab coat.
D)the subject worked with peers who agreed to continue the procedure.

Question 26

What does the Stanford prison study tell us about the relationship between social roles and behavior?

A)People who are naturally aggressive and authoritarian seek out social roles that allow them to behave in this way.
B)"Good" people will refuse to behave according to the norms of a social role if they are required to be harsh or abusive to other people.
C)When people are placed in social roles with a lot of power,their behavior often changes to fit their new role.
D)Inmates naturally take on different social roles in a prison,with some becoming aggressive and authoritarian,while others become passive and submissive.

Question 27

Which of the following is an example of entrapment as it relates to obedience?

A)A friend who is moving asks you to bring over a few empty boxes;when you arrive he asks you to fill the boxes with dishes,and before you know it,you've packed his kitchen.
B)A friend convinces you that it would be fun to stand backwards in the checkout line of the grocery store and before you know it,other customers are gawking at you.
C)A friend states that just because you are the bride there is no reason that you,rather than the groom,should write the thank you cards and before you know it,you are getting the blame.
D)A friend suggests that in auditioning for the part of James Bond in a local production,you should emphasize his fears as well as his strengths,and before you know it,you are laughed off stage.

Question 28

Replications of Milgram's study of obedience showed

A)occupational differences,because 90 percent of lower-SES individuals and 55 percent of upper-SES individuals inflicted what they thought were dangerous levels of shocks to the "learner."
B)gender differences in a willingness to obey,because 75 percent of men but only 30 percent of women inflicted what they thought were dangerous levels of shocks to the "learner."
C)that more than 90 percent of the subjects in Spain and in the Netherlands inflicted what they thought were dangerous levels of shocks to the "learner."
D)that when the victim said that he had a heart ailment or screamed in agony,10 percent of the "teachers" inflicted what they thought were dangerous levels of shocks to the "learner."

Question 29

C.P.Snow said that "more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of _______________ than in the name of rebellion."

A)obedience
B)conformity
C)religion
D)the law

Question 30

Milgram's study on obedience has been criticized on the basis of

A)methodological weaknesses.
B)inability to replicate it.
C)lack of real-life application.
D)ethics.

Question 31

In Milgram's obedience study,many participants who administered the highest shock adopted the attitude "It's his problem,I'm just following orders." This is an example of

A)wanting to be polite.
B)having a moral obligation to continue.
C)routinizing the task.
D)handing over responsibility to authority.

Question 32

_______________ is defined as a gradual process in which individuals escalate their commitment to a course of action to justify their investment of time,money,or effort.

A)Obedience
B)Entrapment
C)Conformity
D)Commitment

Question 33

William is a police officer who is instructed by a superior officer to beat a subject in order to obtain a confession.According to research done on obedience,William is more likely to disobey this order if

A)the superior officer is in the room with William and the suspect.
B)another senior officer agrees that William should beat the subject.
C)the suspect asks William to stop.
D)William sees another police officer refuse to continue beating the subject.

Question 34

Several of Jason's friends deal drugs,but Jason has never wanted to get involved.One day,he agrees to hide some drug money in his apartment for one of his friends.Sometime later he agrees to hide actual drugs.Next Jason agrees to stand watch while one of his friends makes a deal.Finally,Jason agrees when one of his friends asks him to actually sell drugs.Jason's story is an example of

A)false attribution.
B)entrapment.
C)social cognition.
D)social role playing.

Question 35

An authority figure is most likely to use entrapment in order to

A)get an individual to do something that violates his or her principles.
B)punish an individual for disobeying an order.
C)reward an individual for following orders.
D)give "bad guys" an excuse to violate social norms.

Question 36

In the Stanford prison study,male college students agreed to participate in a two-week experiment to discover what would happen when they took on the roles of prisoners and guards.The researchers found that

A)within a short time the prisoners became distressed and panicky,developing emotional symptoms and physical ailments.
B)about 5 percent of the guards became tyrannical,giving the prisoners electric shocks when they were slow in obeying.
C)90 percent of the guards tried to be "tough but fair" and demanded that the tyrannical guards lighten up on the prisoners because it was only an experiment.
D)the study was conducted in an unused wing of a real prison;therefore,the realistic atmosphere enhanced the role behavior of prisoners and guards.

Question 37

Which of the following is true about obedience?

A)Obedience is not always harmful or bad,and is necessary in many cases.
B)Most people follow orders because they secretly enjoy being told what to do.
C)Most people follow orders,despite a strong desire to "rock the boat."
D)Entrapment is a process that helps people disobey.

Question 38

Critics of the Stanford prison study argue that

A)the methodology was flawed because participants were not randomly assigned to either the prisoner condition or the guard condition.
B)by stopping the study after six days instead of letting it continue for the two-week experimental period,the researchers had not allowed enough time for dramatic change to occur.
C)a makeshift prison in the basement of a university building is not an effective setting to investigate the factors involved.
D)briefing the guards at the beginning of the study influenced their behavior,and the study merely showed how willingly people obey orders.

Question 39

The Stanford prison study demonstrates how a person's _______________ affects behavior.

A)beliefs
B)values
C)role
D)past experience

Question 40

The theory that addresses the question of how people make judgments about the causes of behavior is __________ theory.

A)exchange
B)social learning
C)attribution
D)social influence

Question 41

"Mary earns high grades because she is a genius" is an example of a

A)situation attribution.
B)dispositional attribution.
C)self-serving bias.
D)cognitive dissonance.

Question 42

The basic asymmetry in social perception is further widened by which of the following psychological processes that make you feel good about yourself even when you shouldn't?

A)confidence meter
B)fundamental attribution error
C)self-serving biases
D)brain asymmetry

Question 43

While stuck in a traffic jam,Yani notices a frustrated driver frequently honking his horn.Yani thinks to himself,"That driver must be late for work." This is an example of a _______________ attribution.

A)situational
B)dispositional
C)self-serving
D)dissonant

Question 44

When we make dispositional attributions we are identifying the cause of an action as something

A)in the environment.
B)in the person.
C)at work.
D)learned.

Question 45

Researchers in the area of ___________________ examine how people's perception of themselves and others affect their relationships.

A)psychoanalysis
B)sociobiology
C)social cognition
D)behaviorism

Question 46

Janis,an administrative assistant at a London firm,is trying to find reasons for her boss's hostile behavior.She is likely to

A)ignore her boss's dispositional attributions in favor of situational attributions.
B)leap to the attribution that her boss's behavior corresponds to work demands.
C)explore her boss's personality traits and the environmental constraints to derive an explanation.
D)overestimate her boss's personality traits and underestimate the influence of the situation.

Question 47

The fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency of people to

A)overestimate the role of situational factors in the behavior of others.
B)overestimate the role of dispositional factors in the behavior of others.
C)overestimate the role of situational factors in their own behavior.
D)overestimate the role of dispositional factors in their own behavior.

Question 48

I believe I got an "A" in psychology because I'm a hard worker,but I got a "D" in sociology because the teacher doesn't like me.This demonstrates

A)the just-world hypothesis.
B)the fundamental attribution error.
C)blaming the victim.
D)a self-serving bias.

Question 49

In order to choose the most flattering and forgiving attributions of our own lapses,people generally use _______________ when explaining their bad behavior.

A)dispositional attributions
B)unbiased assessment
C)situation attributions
D)the just-world hypothesis

Question 50

Social _______________ refers to the effect of social influence on thought,memory,perception,and beliefs.

A)attribution
B)entrapment
C)attitudes
D)cognition

Question 51

Attribution theory examines

A)the explanations a person makes about the causes of behavior.
B)the psychological traits or "attributes" that a person possesses.
C)judgments about the personal attributes of others.
D)predictions about behavior of people in particular situations.

Question 52

The fundamental attribution error would be predicted to be especially prevalent in

A)India.
B)Britain.
C)Kenya.
D)Japan.

Question 53

The tendency to give too much emphasis to personal factors when accounting for other people's actions is called

A)the primacy effect.
B)defensive attribution.
C)fundamental attribution error.
D)the just-world hypothesis.

Question 54

When people in the United States are trying to find reasons for someone else's behavior,they tend to

A)ignore dispositional attributions in favor of situational attributions.
B)leap to the attribution that people's behaviors correspond to the context.
C)explore the personality traits and the environmental constraints to derive an explanation.
D)overestimate personality traits and underestimate the influence of the situation.

Question 55

While stuck in a traffic jam,Yani notices a frustrated driver frequently honking his horn.Yani thinks to himself,"That driver is a real jerk!" This is an example of a _______________ attribution.

A)situational
B)dispositional
C)self-serving
D)dissonant

Question 56

Which of the following is a type of self-serving bias?

A)the bias to believe that the world is fundamentally unfair
B)the bias to choose dispositional attributions to explain our bad actions
C)the bias to choose the most least flattering attributions of our own lapses
D)the bias that we are better,smarter,and kinder than others

Question 57

What is the process of explaining why certain events occurred or why a particular person acted in a certain manner?

A)attribution
B)causality analysis
C)ascribing
D)stereotyping

Question 58

When we make situational attributions,we are identifying the cause of an action as something

A)in the environment.
B)in the person's disposition.
C)that is a biological trait.
D)with an unconscious motivation.

Question 59

The tendency,in explaining one's own behavior,to take credit for one's good actions and rationalize one's mistakes is an example of

A)a self-serving bias.
B)a fundamental attribution error.
C)an attitude.
D)the validity effect.

Question 60

The "holier-than-thou" effect refers to the tendency for individuals to

A)become angry when other people think they are better than them.
B)believe in a higher power.
C)believe that bad people are punished and good people rewarded.
D)be overly optimistic about their own abilities,competence,and good qualities such as generosity and compassion.

Question 61

Attitudes that we are aware of are said to be __________,whereas attitudes we are unaware of yet still influence our behavior are said to be __________.

A)explicit;implicit
B)implicit;explicit
C)dispositional;situational
D)situational;dispositional

Question 62

Whenever a person has two contradictory cognitions at the same time,a state of _______ exists.

A)cognitive congruence
B)nonreciprocity
C)cognitive dissonance
D)identity diffusion

Question 63

The validity effect is the tendency of people to

A)be unable to distinguish between actual experiences and what they have been told.
B)believe that a statement is true simply because it has been repeated a number of times.
C)solve problems using the same procedures that lead to valid results on similar problems.
D)overestimate their abilities to have predicted an event once the outcome is known.

Question 64

For her dissertation,Heather asks a random sample of people whether their tendency to "do the right thing" is average,below average,or above average.To her surprise,she found that 93% said that they were above average! This illustrates

A)a situational attribution.
B)the "holier-than-thou" effect.
C)the fundamental attribution error.
D)the just-world hypothesis.

Question 65

The familiarity effect is the tendency of people to

A)be unable to distinguish between actual experiences and what they have been told.
B)believe that a statement is true simply because it has been repeated a number of times.
C)feel more positive toward a person,item,product,or other stimulus that they have seen often.
D)overestimate their abilities to have predicted an event once the outcome is known.

Question 66

According to the just-world hypothesis

A)people's actions are just if they truly believe in them.
B)if people work hard for something,then they deserve their reward.
C)bad people are punished and good people are rewarded.
D)international cooperation leads to justice.

Question 67

The notion that many people need to believe that the world is fair and that justice is served is called

A)the fundamental attribution error.
B)the validity effect.
C)just-world hypothesis.
D)self-serving bias.

Question 68

Cognitive dissonance is

A)a state of tension that occurs when a person simultaneously holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent.
B)the tendency of members of a group to avoid taking responsibility for their actions because they assume that others will do so.
C)the tendency for members of a close-knit group to think alike for the sake of harmony and to suppress disagreement.
D)a belief that a statement is true just because the person has heard it repeated over and over again.

Question 69

When Lidia first moved to Texas,she really didn't like country music.However,after being exposed to it for a while,her attitude began to change.This is an example of

A)the validity effect.
B)brainwashing.
C)cognitive dissonance.
D)the familiarity effect.

Question 70

A state of tension that occurs when a person simultaneously holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent is called

A)cognitive dissonance.
B)the validity effect.
C)the fundamental attribution error.
D)routinization.

Question 71

Which of the following is partly heritable?

A)religious affiliation
B)political affiliation
C)social class
D)religiosity

Question 72

At Nicholas's high school,a rumor was spread that the principal was having an affair with one of the teachers.While Nicholas didn't believe the rumor at first,the more he heard the rumor repeated,the more he accepted it as a fact.This is an example of

A)the familiarity effect.
B)brainwashing.
C)cognitive dissonance.
D)the validity effect.

Question 73

Representative Jansen,a U.S.congresswoman,believes in the reproductive rights and welfare of women but voted to ban late-term abortions.Jansen feels very uneasy about the conflict between her beliefs and her behavior.She is most likely experiencing

A)the just-world hypothesis.
B)cognitive resolution.
C)cognitive dissonance.
D)the fundamental attribution error.

Question 74

Joseph Goebbels,Hitler's propaganda minister,used a technique called "The Big Lie." He knew that people begin to believe that a statement is true simply because it has been repeated a number of times.The formal name for this technique is

A)the validity effect.
B)groupthink.
C)diffusion of responsibility.
D)symbolic racism.

Question 75

A belief about people,groups,ideas,or activities is called a(n)

A)social norm.
B)attitude.
C)attribution.
D)disposition.

Question 76

Blaming the victim often results when a person strongly believes in the

A)diffusion of responsibility.
B)attribution of responsibility.
C)social identity theory.
D)just-world hypothesis.

Question 77

Which of the following statements about attitudes is true?

A)We are consciously aware of all of our attitudes.
B)Attitudes cannot be changed after they have been formed.
C)Attitudes are generally a result of learning and experience,but may also be a result of innate personality traits.
D)All attitudes are equally strong.

Question 78

Even though Jane thought it was wrong to take from others,she didn't want to be rejected by her peers,so she began shoplifting along with them.Jane probably experienced _______ when she stole.

A)the fundamental attribution error
B)reactance
C)central route change
D)cognitive dissonance

Question 79

Which of the following is partly heritable?

A)religious affiliation
B)political affiliation
C)social class
D)political conservatism

Question 80

When someone likes a person better after spending time together,they often say that the person "grew on them." What concept does this illustrate?

A)the familiarity effect
B)brainwashing
C)cognitive dissonance
D)the validity effect