Question 1

Sillain is participating in a fMRI study replicating Asch's line judgment study.When she performed alone at judging the figures, or when she conformed to the wrong answer, what area of her brain was most likely active?

Accepted Answer

A)  the decision-making center 
B)  the motor cortex 
C)  the area dedicated to vision 
D)  the prefrontal cortex

Question 2

You need to give a presentation in your class about Bibb Latané's social impact theory (1981).You want to focus on the three variables that influence the likelihood that people will conform to social influence pressures.Your lecture will include:

Accepted Answer

A)  strength, immediacy, and number. 
B)  norms, values, and social practices. 
C)  anonymity, situational ambiguity, and norms. 
D)  pressure, resistance, and interdependence.

Question 3

According to Latané's (1981) social impact theory, Katy will binge eat with her sorority sisters because

Accepted Answer

A)  her sorority sisters are immediate and the sorority is very important to her. 
B)  Katy wants to be thin and accepted by others. 
C)  Katy is predisposed to binge eating. 
D)  Katy is in an ambiguous situation and so follows what others do around her.

Question 4

In a series of studies by Solomon Asch (1951, 1956), when participants judged the lengths of lines alone rather than in a group of confederates, their judgments were accurate about 99 percent of the time.Still, when other participants made judgments in a group of people who gave the wrong answers, they reported incorrect judgments.These findings suggest that

Accepted Answer

A)  experts exert informational social influence in ambiguous situations. 
B)  normative social influence was at work. 
C)  informational social influence happens, even in unambiguous situations. 
D)  people will distort reality to avoid punishment or social censure.

Question 5

In a field study by Shultz and his colleagues (2007), several households in a neighborhood received weekly feedback about their level of energy consumption relative to their neighbors.How are these results being applied?

Accepted Answer

A) Neighbors tell each other tips for better energy conservation. 
B) Energy companies send out workers to assess energy consumption. 
C) Some utility companies now put a smiley or sad face on customers' bills. 
D) People are "paying it forward" and teaching others about energy conservation.

Question 6

Mr.Anderson needs someone to work the very undesirable Fourth of July shift in his restaurant.If he uses the door-in-the-face technique, how should he approach his staff?

Accepted Answer

A) Ask someone to work every Sunday for the next 3 months, then ask that person to work July 4th. 
B) Ask someone to work July 4th, and then ask if they can also work the following three days. 
C) Ask someone to work a few extra minutes today, then ask the person to work July 4th. 
D) Ask someone to work July 4th, because he (Mr.Anderson) is also working that day.

Question 7

It's Libby's first day in college.When she approaches the professor to have an "add" form signed, she listens to other students to see if they address the professor as "Professor," "Dr.," "Mrs.," or by her first name, and then she does the same.This is an example of

Accepted Answer

A)  situational uncertainty. 
B)  informational social influence. 
C)  normative social influence. 
D)  situational interdependence.

Question 8

In addition to the role of both informational and normative conformity pressures, participants in Stanley Milgram's obedience experiments (e.g., Milgram, 1974) administered escalating shocks to a confederate learner because they

Accepted Answer

A)  became trapped in conflicting norm demands. 
B)  failed to take the perspective of the experimenter. 
C)  ignored social norms once they entered the experimental setting. 
D)  were motivated to reduce the ambiguity of this distressing situation.

Question 9

Research shows that conformity is not always required of group members.If a member of your group occasionally deviates from the group and the group doesn't impose negative consequences, the individual has used some of his/her ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  idiosyncrasy credits 
B)  descriptive norms 
C)  propaganda 
D)  power

Question 10

The social influence strategy in which getting people to agree first to a small request makes them more likely to agree later to a second, larger request is known as

Accepted Answer

A) propaganda. 
B) the door-in-the-face technique. 
C) minority influence. 
D) foot-in-the-door technique.

Question 11

In essence, normative social influence arises from humans' fundamental

Accepted Answer

A)  selfishness, which must be kept in check. 
B)  need for companionship, affection, and acceptance. 
C)  need for accurate perceptions and beliefs about a confusing world. 
D)  desire to submit to knowledgeable authorities.

Question 12

In which of the following cases is conformity due to information social influence LEAST likely to occur?

Accepted Answer

A)  A new camper arrives at camp and needs to figure out procedures in the cafeteria. 
B)  A person on the street is stumbling and it is not clear if he is hurt or drunk. 
C)  A repairman falls off a ladder and breaks his leg while working in the hospital. 
D)  An airplane hits major turbulence and it is a few minutes until the captain gets on the speaker to reassure the passengers.

Question 13

Which situation below best exemplifies the tenet of social impact theory that group strength is directly related to conformity?

Accepted Answer

A)  When eating with strangers, Suzie will talk with her mouth full, but not when eating with her friends. 
B)  When Adam is with his "slacker" friends, he doesn't take school seriously; when he's at home alone, he studies for hours on end. 
C)  When Jason's friends use subtle influence attempts, he conforms; when they use coercive tactics, he resists them. 
D)  One-on-one, Melissa will talk a blue streak, but when she's in a group, she's very quiet.

Question 14

In the nineteenth century, audience members who knew the opera intimately served as "claques," or experts who signaled others in the audience when to applaud, or as "bisseurs," who signaled when to call for encores.These experts served as a source of ________ for less sophisticated audience members.

Accepted Answer

A)  informational social influence 
B)  contagion 
C)  normative social influence 
D)  public compliance

Question 15

Public safety officials want to increase the use of seat belts among drivers, and have decided to show a television ad documenting the rising use of seat belts among drivers.This represents the use of ________ norms to change safety behaviors.

Accepted Answer

A)  descriptive 
B)  injunctive 
C)  conjunctive 
D)  proscriptive

Question 16

In Milgram's studies on obedience, the experimenter repeatedly told the participants that they must continue with the study.This aspect of Milgram's studies violated the ethical principle of

Accepted Answer

A)  informed consent. 
B)  deception. 
C)  the right to withdraw. 
D)  inflicted insight.

Question 17

Solomon Asch (1951, 1956) conducted a series of studies in which participants were asked to estimate the lengths of lines that clearly differed in length.Participants then heard the other group members give correct estimations for some trials, and blatantly incorrect estimations for others.When confederates in the study gave an incorrect response, how did participants respond?

Accepted Answer

A)  They refused to provide an obviously incorrect answer. 
B)  They tried to correct the confederates' mistakes and persuade them to make the correct choice. 
C)  They tended to conform on at least one of the trials. 
D)  They refused to answer, or "passed" their turn.

Question 18

Recall that Milgram conducted a variation on his original obedience experiment.In this variation, there were two confederates in addition to the participant.When the participant threw the switch at 150 volts, one of the confederates refused to continue, even though the experimenter commanded him or her to do so.In this variation, only about 10 percent (compared to about 65 percent in the original study) went to the highest shock level.This experimental variation demonstrated the power of ________ in eliciting obedience.

Accepted Answer

A)  informational social influence 
B)  descriptive norms 
C)  normative social influence 
D)  the door-in-the-face effect

Question 19

Given the role of informational and normative social influence processes in contributing to participants' willingness to shock a confederate learner (e.g., Milgram, 1974), which of the following situations would yield the LEAST obedience?

Accepted Answer

A)  The experimenter administers shocks to himself to demonstrate that the shocks are not lethal. 
B)  The experimenter tells participants that the learner will later be allowed to administer shocks to them. 
C)  The experimenter tells participants that the best teacher will be awarded a prize at the conclusion of the experiment. 
D)  Before leaving the room, two experimenters disagree on instructions before finally telling participants to take their time and choose their own shock levels.

Question 20

Solomon Asch (1951, 1956) embarked on a series of studies in which participants were asked to estimate the lengths of lines that clearly differed in length.Asch originally undertook these experiments to

Accepted Answer

A)  systematically replicate the earlier "autokinetic effect" studies of Muzafer Sherif, using different ambiguous stimuli. 
B)  demonstrate that in ambiguous situations, people would rather be "liked" than "right." 
C)  show that in unambiguous situations, people will behave in reasonable, rational ways. 
D)  challenge the prevailing view that humans are inherently motivated to be accurate in their perceptions.

Exam 8: Conformity: Influencing Behavior