Question 1

Research on effort justification and cognitive dissonance theory most directly suggests that ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  fraternity "hazing" is an effective way to promote group loyalty. 
B)  most people engage in social loafing. 
C)  twelve-person juries are likely to come up with different verdicts than are juries with four or fewer people. 
D)  most people look to others when deciding how to behave in a group context.

Question 2

Much research has demonstrated a weak link between (a) what people say their attitudes are, and (b) how they actually behave. According to the text, one of the key reasons that this relationship is so weak, however, is the fact that researchers have often ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  tried to relate very general attitudes to very specific behaviors 
B)  tried to relate very specific attitudes to very general behaviors 
C)  limited their research in this area to very sensitive topics (e.g., sexual attitudes and behaviors), where attitude-behavior inconsistencies are especially likely to occur 
D)  limited their research in this area to topics that research participants are unlikely to care much about (e.g., the number of minutes they will spend on a particular experimental task), where attitude-behavior inconsistencies are especially likely to occur

Question 3

Classical conditioning can be thought of as a type of ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  associative learning 
B)  imitation 
C)  instrumental learning 
D)  vicarious learning

Question 4

As discussed in the text, there are a number of cognitive tendencies found among gamblers that have the effect of encouraging these people to keep gambling. One of the MOST common is the tendency to see losses as ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  "near wins" (not losses at all) 
B)  "par for the course" (as a certain number of losses are expected) 
C)  "practice runs" (helping to improve technique in the long term) 
D)  "not their fault" (special exceptions due to circumstances)

Question 5

According to the research of Ajzen and Fishbein (1977), if you want to predict a specific behavior, you should measure a(n) ____________________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to the research of Ajzen and...

Question 6

The mere exposure effect occurs for stimuli that are presented at a conscious level, but it does not occur for stimuli that are presented at a nonconscious (subliminal) level.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 7

Kelly's first pregnancy was a disaster by most people's standards. Her water broke 24 weeks into the pregnancy, she delivered the baby 15 weeks premature, and he survived but with multiple physical and behavioral health problems that take enormous resources to tackle. Yet every time Kelly takes the baby to the doctor, she notices other families with worse situations--children with terminal illnesses or more profound disabilities. Kelly is using ____ to cope with her baby's complications.

Accepted Answer

A)  assumptive worlds 
B)  downward comparisons 
C)  presumptive reasoning 
D)  stigmatization

Question 8

____ are pieces of information, facts, or opinions; ____ are broad evaluations toward some object or issue.

Accepted Answer

A)  Attitudes, associations 
B)  Associations, beliefs 
C)  Attitudes, beliefs 
D)  Beliefs, attitudes

Question 9

Explain the potential benefits and costs of holding strong religious beliefs.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain the potential benefits and costs of...

Question 10

The so-called A-B problem refers to the fact that there is often a weak relationship between people's ___.

Accepted Answer

A)  implicit and explicit attitudes 
B)  affects and behaviors 
C)  attitudes and behaviors 
D)  affects and cognitions

Question 11

Beth and Jean are talking about welfare reform in America. Beth is very passionate about the issue, and makes strong statements about her views. Jean later e-mails Beth an article which contains some information that is consistent with Beth's views, as well as some information that is inconsistent with Beth's views. Beth chooses to believe the consistent information but discounts the inconsistent information. As a matter of fact, after reading the article and thinking about the data it contained-even though these data were mixed-Beth actually feels even more passionate and more strongly about her position. This is an example of ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  anchoring and adjustment 
B)  informational influence 
C)  attitude polarization 
D)  cognitive coping

Question 12

Who has the most accessible attitude?

Accepted Answer

A)  Zoe, who has to think for a while about whether she favors the death penalty or not 
B)  Shawna, who doesn't care one way or the other about the death penalty 
C)  Diti, who has very extreme views about abortion 
D)  Lira, who can tell you right away her opinion on abortion

Question 13

Attitude polarization refers to the finding that ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  when people reflect on a given attitude, their position on that attitude tends to become more extreme. 
B)  when people reflect on a given attitude, they tend to become more open-minded with respect to that attitude. 
C)  people are more likely to spend time reflecting on issues that they have extreme views about than issues that they have moderate views about. 
D)  people are more likely to spend time reflecting on issues that they have moderate views about than issues that they have extreme views about.

Question 14

George is supposed to give a presentation in his History class on Thursday, and has been dreading it intensely all month (his knowledge of the topic is shaky, and so is his presentation style). On Wednesday, the day before the presentation is scheduled, George's teacher, Ms. Torres, tells him that he can present the following week if he likes. Instead of taking Ms. Torres up on this offer, however, George says that he will go ahead and present the next day. Why?

Accepted Answer

A)  George must have coped with his nervousness and dread by changing some relevant attitudes and beliefs. 
B)  George must have heard Ms. Torres incorrectly because of his anxiety; otherwise, he would obviously have postponed the presentation. 
C)  George must have coped with his nervousness and dread by simply blocking the presentation out of his mind completely and not thinking about it. 
D)  George must have low self-esteem; otherwise, he would have postponed the presentation.

Question 15

Research suggests that, if you are half-asleep on the sofa watching an infomercial, such that you are processing the contents of the infomercial solely via the automatic system, then your automatic system is likely to take in the ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  images of the infomercial, but none of the claims 
B)  claims of the infomercial, but not evaluate them 
C)  claims of the infomercial as "true" 
D)  claims of the infomercial as "false"

Question 16

The act of comparing oneself to people who are worse off is called a(n) ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  downward comparison 
B)  upward comparison 
C)  post-decision dissonance 
D)  effort justification

Question 17

One technique that advertisers often use to influence consumers is celebrity endorsement. The logic works like this: If people like Catherine Zeta-Jones and repeatedly see T-Mobile products together with Catherine Zeta-Jones, then people will learn to associate T-Mobile with her and will in turn like T-Mobile more. That is, celebrity endorsement is expected to lead to ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  operant conditioning 
B)  classical conditioning 
C)  vicarious learning 
D)  observational learning

Question 18

Distinguish between classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social learning. How do they work and how do they differ from one another?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Distinguish between classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and...

Question 19

In P-O-X theory, the "P" stands for person, the "O" for another person, and the "X" for _____.

Accepted Answer

A)  an attitude object 
B)  the relationship between the two people 
C)  the observer 
D)  the difference between the two people

Question 20

According to cognitive dissonance theory, "we come to love the things we suffer for." For example, we tend to be especially loyal to groups that require severe or painful initiations. Why does this happen?

Accepted Answer

A)  This happens because the goals themselves (the things that we suffer for) are actually always very valuable; otherwise, we wouldn't have suffered for them in the first place. 
B)  This happens because, deep down, people really like to suffer. 
C)  This happens because we are motivated to justify the time and effort we've spent on our choices. 
D)  This happens because classical conditioning is at play: when we finally reach our goals, our suffering ends. We therefore associate our goals with "end of suffering" and come to love them.

Exam 7: Attitudes, Beliefs and Consistency