Question 1

Which of the following statements provides the best example of a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Accepted Answer

A)  When poor school children are expected to perform less well than wealthy school children 
B)  When an athlete visualizes a superior performance and then goes out and actually wins 
C)  When minority candidates perform more poorly in interviews because interviewers act on their expectations that these candidates are unprepared 
D)  When people focus on the first information they have about another individual when making an impression

Question 2

According to which of the following principles, a personal attribution is most likely to result when consistency is high, consensus is low, and distinctiveness is low?

Accepted Answer

A)  Situational attribution 
B)  Correspondent inference theory 
C)  Covariation 
D)  Personal attribution

Question 3

_______ is the phenomenon in which people's internal state influences their visual perception.

Accepted Answer

A)  Wishful seeing 
B)  Attribution bias 
C)  Averaging models of impression formation 
D)  Belief perseverance

Question 4

Putting a heavy emphasis on the first-hand information people receive about others is called the ___________ .

Accepted Answer

A)  recency effect 
B)  emphasis effect 
C)  impression effect 
D)  primacy effect

Question 5

According to Pryor and Merluzzi (1985), the script for a first date

Accepted Answer

A)  was more easily recalled by participants with extensive dating experience. 
B)  varied widely by gender, but only when participants relatively experienced. 
C)  varied widely by sexual orientation. 
D)  was similar across cultures.

Question 6

Which of the following best describes the process of individuation while forming an impression?

Accepted Answer

A)  Actively attending to and gathering information about a person, free of bias and stereotypes 
B)  Automatically perceiving others as mentor, boss, or teacher 
C)  Treating an individual as a special entity within a social category 
D)  Focusing more on a person's negative qualities than positive

Question 7

You hear Tiger Woods doing a radio commercial for Buick. Even though you know that Woods did not write the commercial himself, was paid to provide the voice-over for the commercial, and probably does not drive a Buick in real life, you still think that at some level, Woods must think highly of Buicks. This is an example of the

Accepted Answer

A)  actor-observer effect. 
B)  false-consensus bias. 
C)  availability heuristic. 
D)  fundamental attribution error.

Question 8

The importance of nonverbal behavior to social perception can be seen by the fact that e-mail messages

Accepted Answer

A)  are often misinterpreted, especially when the writer is trying to be funny or sarcastic. 
B)  have a stronger emotional impact on those who read them than do voicemail messages. 
C)  are typically substantially longer and more richly detailed than text messages. 
D)  are the preferred means of communication among younger but not older Americans.

Question 9

A group of theories that describe how people explain the causes of behavior is known as

Accepted Answer

A)  attribution theory. 
B)  correspondent inference theory. 
C)  information integration theory. 
D)  the just-world model.

Question 10

Kevin is walking down the hall when he sees his friend, Carry. Kevin smiles and waves to her, But Carry keeps walking without acknowledging him. Which of the following examples best explains the fundamental attribution error?

Accepted Answer

A)  Deciding to ignore Carry the next time Kevin sees her. 
B)  Deciding that Carry snubbed Kevin because she is rude. 
C)  Assuming that Carry did not see Kevin. 
D)  Concluding that Carry was probably in a rush.

Question 11

Andrew tends to view the behavior of others in gross units, whereas Angela tends to break others' behavior down into fine units. Angela is more likely than Andrew to

Accepted Answer

A)  pay more attention to the behavior. 
B)  detect more meaningful actions. 
C)  remember more details about the behavior. 
D)  form a more positive impression of an actor.

Question 12

What reduces cognitive ambiguity and heightens the importance of first impressions?

Accepted Answer

A)  The need for closure 
B)  Belief perseverance 
C)  Confirmation bias 
D)  Counterfactual thinking

Question 13

When do we make an attribution about a person?

Accepted Answer

A)  When they are heavily criticized. 
B)  When they are strongly praised. 
C)  When a cause is imputed for their actions. 
D)  When they are being judged by the others.

Question 14

What are the important traits that exert a powerful influence on final impressions?

Accepted Answer

A)  Implicit traits 
B)  Central traits 
C)  Priming traits 
D)  Confirming traits

Question 15

According to Todorov and others (2008), ____ facial expression will be perceived as most trustworthy.

Accepted Answer

A)  U-shaped mouth with raised eyebrows 
B)  U-shaped mouth with eyebrows forming a V 
C)  mouth curled down with raised eyebrows 
D)  mouth curled down with eyebrows forming a V

Question 16

According to Hassin and Trope's (2000) study of physiognomy, participants assigned traits to others based on their

Accepted Answer

A)  hair style. 
B)  facial features. 
C)  perceived age. 
D)  perceived race.

Question 17

When forming impressions of others, people

Accepted Answer

A)  see their own skills and abilities as less desirable to have. 
B)  use the significant others in their lives as a frame of reference. 
C)  differ in the particular traits they are likely to notice. 
D)  are typically very inconsistent in what they consider.

Question 18

The theory that combines the personal dispositions of the perceiver with a weighted average of the target person's characteristics is called

Accepted Answer

A)  fundamental attribution error. 
B)  information integration. 
C)  motivational bias. 
D)  covariation.

Question 19

Believing that poor people are happier than others, or that obese people are more sociable, helps to satisfy

Accepted Answer

A)  belief perseverance. 
B)  belief in a just world. 
C)  the self-fulfilling prophecy. 
D)  the false-consensus effect.

Question 20

Which of the following features best explains how availability affects judgments?

Accepted Answer

A)  Difficulty to recall 
B)  Counterfactual thinking 
C)  Ease of recall 
D)  Stereotyping

Exam 4: Perceiving Persons