Deck 3: Social Beliefs and Judgments

Question 1

Your summer vacation was perhaps not an overwhelmingly positive event,but during the final week of August,you remember it as being a fantastic time.This is an example of

A)perseverance bias.
B)fundamental attribution error.
C)correspondence bias.
D)rosy retrospection.

Answer 1

rosy retrospection.

Question 2

Sometimes the basis for one's belief is discredited but an explanation of why the belief might be true survives.Social psychologists refer to this as

A)rationalization.
B)belief persistence.
C)attitude consistency.
D)belief perseverance.

Answer 2

belief perseverance.

Question 3

Despite reading numerous research studies that report the association of fast food consumption with heart disease and diabetes,Rachel continues to eat fast food and thinks that it is harmless.Rachel's thinking is an example of

A)belief assimilation.
B)belief consolidation.
C)belief perseverance.
D)operation of the availability heuristic.

Answer 3

belief perseverance.

Question 4

Your immediate recognition of your friend's face or her voice on the phone is an example of

A)controlled processing.
B)illusory correlation.
C)automatic processing.
D)attribution error.

Question 5

You have strong feelings about abortion.Which statement is true?

A)Your beliefs do not influence how you see new information.
B)Your beliefs influence how you see new information.
C)Your beliefs are unrelated to how you see new information.
D)New information can change your beliefs.

Question 6

While waiting to cross the street,you witness a man running a red light-causing a three-car accident.Just after it happens,the man who ran the stoplight gets out of the car to talk to you.He tells you that the light was yellow.Later you tell police that you remembered the light being yellow,not red,when the man went through the intersection.This scenario illustrates

A)the priming effect.
B)the confirmation bias.
C)belief perseverance.
D)the misinformation effect.

Question 7

Activating particular associations in memory is called

A)triggering.
B)initiation.
C)galvanization.
D)priming.

Question 8

"Explicit" thinking that is deliberate,reflective,and conscious is called

A)controlled processing.
B)automatic processing.
C)external processing.
D)intentional processing.

Question 9

Jumping out of your seat as a result of an unexpected scene in a movie is what type of thinking?

A)controlled processing
B)automatic processing
C)internal processing
D)intentional processing

Question 10

According to your text,people everywhere perceive mediators and the media as

A)biased in favor of their position.
B)objective in their decisions and coverage.
C)biased against their position.
D)biased against the president.

Question 11

Your friends have strong feelings about abortion.Which statement is true?

A)Their beliefs don't influence how they see new information.
B)Their beliefs influence how they see new information.
C)Their beliefs are unrelated to new information.
D)New information changes their beliefs.

Question 12

Research has shown that explaining why an opposite theory may be true (e.g. ,why a cautious person might be a better firefighter than a risk-taking person)_______ belief perseverance.

A)slightly increases
B)maintains
C)reduces
D)significantly increases

Question 13

Researchers provided study participants with evidence that either risk-prone or cautious people make better firefighters.When participants wrote an explanation for the findings,they were particularly susceptible to

A)the fundamental attribution error.
B)the hindsight bias.
C)behavioral confirmation.
D)belief perseverance.

Question 14

To retrieve a memory of where your date told you she wanted to go for dinner tomorrow,you need to activate one of the strands that leads to this memory,such as thinking about what types of food she does and does not like.This process is known as

A)belief perseverance.
B)reconstruction.
C)priming.
D)induction.

Question 15

Incorporating inaccurate information into one's memory of an event,after witnessing the event and receiving misleading information about it is called

A)the priming effect.
B)the confirmation bias.
C)belief perseverance.
D)the misinformation effect.

Question 16

You have a tendency to assume someone is still a good friend even after a person acts otherwise.This tendency is known as the

A)belief perseverance phenomenon.
B)belief continuity phenomenon.
C)correspondence bias.
D)belief disconfirmation bias.

Question 17

When trying to recall the definition of the fundamental attribution error during an exam,you think back to what the professor was wearing when he was talking about the fundamental attribution error in class.What type of thinking is this?

A)controlled processing
B)automatic processing
C)internal processing
D)intentional processing

Question 18

Researchers had students write essays opposing student control over university curricula.When asked to recall how they had felt about the same issue a week earlier,most of the students

A)remembered having held a very different attitude.
B)could not remember how they had felt.
C)mistakenly "remembered" having felt the same as they do now.
D)admitted they had always supported student control of university curricula but pretended to oppose it in their essays.

Question 19

"Implicit" thinking that is effortless,habitual,and without awareness is called

A)controlled processing.
B)automatic processing.
C)internal processing.
D)intentional processing.

Question 20

Your best friend is a master chess player and has won numerous awards.When you play chess with her,you notice that she seems to be aware of strategies almost immediately after your move.Her awareness of these strategies reflects what type of thinking?

A)controlled processing
B)automatic processing
C)internal processing
D)intentional processing

Question 21

Each semester you repeatedly underestimate how long it will take you to complete a research paper that is due at the end of the term.Your behavior is an example of the

A)perseverance bias.
B)fundamental attribution error.
C)correspondence bias.
D)overconfidence phenomenon.

Question 22

On the first day of class,we see a middle-aged man at the front of the room,talking to a younger man.If we assume the older man is the professor and the younger man is the student,we are relying on what heuristic?

A)availability
B)representativeness
C)vividness
D)matching

Question 23

Which of the following strategies will NOT be helpful in reducing the overconfidence bias?

A)Give prompt feedback to them about their decisions.
B)Have them break down the task to subcomponents and estimate each.
C)Have them think about why they could be wrong.
D)Give them feedback about others' performance.

Question 24

The tendency to presume,sometimes despite contrary odds,that someone or something belongs to a particular group because it resembles a typical member is referred to as the _______ heuristic.

A)availability
B)representativeness
C)vividness
D)matching

Question 25

Which of the following strategies might be helpful in reducing the overconfidence bias?

A)Get people to think about why their judgments might be wrong.
B)Delay feedback regarding the accuracy of their judgments.
C)Inform people about the overconfidence bias.
D)Tell people that there is no remedy for the overconfidence bias.

Question 26

The cognitive rule that judges the likelihood of things in terms of their availability in memory is called the _____ heuristic.

A)availability
B)representativeness
C)vividness
D)matching

Question 27

Sharon typically watches televised news stations that support her existing political beliefs.She is less inclined to watch the news on other stations,as it may disprove her preconceptions.Sharon's approach illustrates the

A)confirmation bias.
B)misinformation effect.
C)base-rate fallacy.
D)I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon.

Question 28

Which of the following is a thinking strategy that enables quick,efficient judgments?

A)an implicit attitude
B)an explicit attitude
C)a heuristic
D)a confirmation bias

Question 29

You used to envy your brother because he was always so confident when talking to others.Yet the older you become,the more you realize that your brother is more often convinced of things rather than accurate about things.Your brother's behavior can be explained by the

A)perseverance bias.
B)fundamental attribution error.
C)correspondence bias.
D)overconfidence phenomenon.

Question 30

Kruger and Dunning (1999)found that those students who scored lowest on tests of grammar and logic were _______ to overestimating their grammar and logic skills.

A)least prone
B)most prone
C)sometimes prone
D)never prone

Question 31

Once during a hospital stay,you observed a man and a woman (both in health professional attire)talking.You assumed that the man was a physician and that the woman was a nurse.Later,you found out the opposite was true.What type of heuristic did you use during your initial reaction to the two individuals?

A)availability heuristic
B)representativeness heuristic
C)vividness heuristic
D)matching heuristic

Question 32

When we are eager to seek information that verifies our beliefs but less inclined to seek evidence that might disprove our beliefs,the _______ has occurred.

A)hindsight bias
B)confirmation bias
C)overconfidence phenomenon
D)fundamental attribution error

Question 33

One reason people are overconfident is that they are not inclined to seek out information

A)from experts.
B)that is objective and factual.
C)that involves judging estimates and comparisons.
D)that might disprove what they believe.

Question 34

Marcia thought that she would have enough time to write her paper after she bought groceries and cleaned the house,but she ran out of time.This is an example of

A)belief perseverance.
B)the planning fallacy.
C)confirmation bias.
D)heuristic problems.

Question 35

Assuming most crimes involve violence because the news generally reports on rapes,robberies,and beatings is an example of the _______ heuristic.

A)availability
B)representativeness
C)vividness
D)matching

Question 36

The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs is called the

A)perseverance bias.
B)fundamental attribution error.
C)correspondence bias.
D)overconfidence phenomenon.

Question 37

After 9/11,many people abandoned air travel because of the

A)availability heuristic.
B)representativeness heuristic.
C)confirmation bias.
D)planning fallacy.

Question 38

The process of judging something by intuitively comparing it to our mental representation of a category uses the _____ heuristic.

A)availability
B)representativeness
C)vividness
D)matching

Question 39

The tendency to imagine alternative scenarios and outcomes that might have happened but did not is called

A)the base-rate fallacy.
B)automatic thinking.
C)reflective bias.
D)counterfactual thinking.

Question 40

Although travelers in the United States are more likely to die in an automobile crash than on a commercial flight covering the same distance,people often assume that flying is more dangerous than driving.What type of heuristic are people using when they make this assumption?

A)availability heuristic
B)representativeness heuristic
C)vividness heuristic
D)matching heuristic

Question 41

Research on gambling has found that throwing the dice or spinning the wheel increases people's confidence.This illustrates the

A)illusory correlation.
B)illusion of control.
C)representative heuristiC.
D)availability heuristic.

Question 42

Which statement is NOT correct as it relates to mood and judgment?

A)Happy people are more trusting and loving.
B)Unhappy people tend to be more self-focused and brooding.
C)A bad mood primes our recollection of aggressive events.
D)Our moods don't influence our judgments.

Question 43

Your boss is always cranky.You assume this is because he has not had a raise in 10 years.What type of attribution are you making to explain his behavior?

A)motivational
B)dispositional
C)situational
D)common sense

Question 44

You are consistently late to your psychology class,because the biology class you have immediately before it is in a building on the other side of campus.You are concerned that your professor does not think you are a serious student because of your chronic tardiness.If this were true,what type of attribution would your professor be making about your behavior?

A)motivational
B)dispositional
C)situational
D)external

Question 45

You are consistently late to your psychology class,because the biology class you have immediately before it is in a building on the other side of campus.You are concerned that your professor does not think you are a serious student because of your chronic tardiness,so you inform her of why you are always late.You can now safely conclude that your professor will make what type of attribution about your behavior?

A)motivational
B)dispositional
C)situational
D)internal

Question 46

The statistical tendency for extreme scores or behaviors to return toward average is called

A)the regression heuristic.
B)regression toward the extreme.
C)regression toward the average.
D)reversion.

Question 47

According to the text,many men assume women are flattered by repeated requests for dates,which women more often see as harassing.This is an example of

A)arrogance.
B)a lack of intuition.
C)misattribution.
D)miscommunication.

Question 48

A fellow student is consistently late for class.You assume this is because he is lazy and unorganized.What type of attribution are you making for his behavior?

A)motivational
B)dispositional
C)situational
D)illusory

Question 49

The perception of a relationship where none actually exists,or the perception of a stronger relationship than actually exists,is called

A)a representative heuristic.
B)an availability heuristic.
C)an illusory correlation.
D)the overconfidence phenomenon.

Question 50

Thinking that our premonitions correlate with events represents

A)a representative heuristic.
B)an availability heuristic.
C)an illusory correlation.
D)the overconfidence phenomenon.

Question 51

Imagining alternative scenarios and outcomes that might have been is an example of

A)a representative heuristic.
B)counterfactual thinking.
C)an illusory correlation.
D)the overconfidence phenomenon.

Question 52

You did not study for your psychology exam.However,you imagine yourself earning a better grade than the one you actually earned.This is an example of

A)implicit thinking.
B)explicit thinking.
C)counterfactual thinking.
D)the fundamental attribution error.

Question 53

The theory that explains people's behavior by attributing it to internal dispositions or external situations is called

A)dispositional theory.
B)motivational theory.
C)situational theory.
D)attribution theory.

Question 54

Counterfactual thinking is more likely when

A)we are not expecting a favorable outcome.
B)we are surprised by favorable results.
C)we can easily picture an alternative outcome.
D)the event is insignificant.

Question 55

Although you once earned a 100 on your physics exam,you have subsequently been unable to earn a perfect score again.Your experience may be understood in terms of

A)the illusory correlation.
B)regression toward the average.
C)the representativeness heuristiC.
D)counterfactual thinking.

Question 56

Research by Abbey (1998)found that _______ are likely to attribute a _______ friendliness to mild sexual interest.

A)women;man's
B)men;woman's
C)both women and men;man's
D)both women and men;woman's

Question 57

The idea that chance events are subject to our influence describes

A)an illusory correlation.
B)an illusion of control.
C)a representative heuristiC.
D)an availability heuristic.

Question 58

Your boss is always cranky.You assume this is because she is an unhappy person.What type of attribution are you making to explain her behavior?

A)motivational
B)dispositional
C)situational
D)illusory

Question 59

Which statement is NOT correct as it relates to mood and judgment?

A)Our moods color how we judge our world partly by bringing to mind past experiences associated with the mood.
B)Mood-related thoughts may distract us from complex thinking processes.
C)We are not more likely to make snap judgments when we have strong mad or glad feelings.
D)When watching a videotape of their behavior,subjects in a bad mood detected far fewer positive behaviors.

Question 60

After breaking up with your boyfriend,you imagine that you would still be with him if you had treated him more considerately.This is an example of

A)implicit thinking.
B)explicit thinking.
C)counterfactual thinking.
D)the fundamental attribution error.

Question 61

Researchers randomly assigned participants to play the part of either a quiz game contestant or the host,while other participants merely observed the game.Results indicated that

A)both contestants and observers thought the hosts were more knowledgeable than the contestants.
B)both contestants and observers thought the contestants were more knowledgeable than the hosts.
C)observers thought the hosts were more knowledgeable,but contestants attributed the outcomes to the situation.
D)hosts thought themselves more knowledgeable,but contestants attributed the outcomes to the situation.

Question 62

Researchers had students read debaters' speeches either supporting or attacking Cuban leader Fidel Castro.When the students were later told that each debater's position had been assigned,they

A)assumed the debater's position merely reflected the demands of the assignment.
B)described the speaker's position as poorly developed.
C)concluded that to some extent the speech reflected the speaker's true beliefs.
D)concluded that the debating coach was an effective persuader.

Question 63

Fundamental attribution error is the tendency for observers to _________ situational influences and ________dispositional influences on behavior.

A)overestimate;underestimate
B)underestimate;overestimate
C)underestimate;ignore
D)overestimate;ignore

Question 64

According to the attribution theorist Kelley (1973),what three types of information do we use when we make attributions for other people's behavior?

A)consistency,distinctiveness,and character
B)consistency,distinctiveness,and consensus
C)conformity,distinctiveness,and character
D)conformity,distinctiveness,and consensus

Question 65

After reading a newspaper article about teenagers who illegally download music from the Internet,you conclude that those who engage in such behavior are morally bankrupt.It never occurs to you that the reason teenagers download music from the Internet is because they are not able to afford the price of a compact disc,or the temptation to download,coupled with the peer pressure to do so,is often great.Your thinking on this matter can be characterized by the

A)false consensus bias.
B)misinformation effect.
C)fundamental attribution error.
D)dispositional bias.

Question 66

Attributing behavior to a person's environment is an example of what type of attribution?

A)motivational
B)dispositional
C)situational
D)genetic

Question 67

The tendency for observers to underestimate situational influences and overestimate depositional influences on other people's behavior is called the

A)false consensus bias.
B)misinformation effect.
C)fundamental attribution error.
D)dispositional bias.

Question 68

We tend to underestimate the situational determinants of others' behavior but not our own because we observe others from a different perspective than we observe ourselves.This is known as the

A)actor-observer perspective.
B)camera perspective bias.
C)changing perspectives trend.
D)self-awareness phenomenon.

Question 69

In a study conducted by Lassiter and his colleagues (2005),participants observed a suspect confessing during a police interview.The results indicated that participants were more likely to perceive the confession as coerced when they viewed the confession

A)live.
B)through a two-way mirror.
C)through a camera focused on the suspect.
D)through a camera focused on the detective.

Question 70

Attributing behavior to a person's traits is an example of what type of attribution?

A)motivational
B)dispositional
C)situational
D)epigenetic

Question 71

People in Western cultures are more inclined to assume that others' behaviors

A)reflect inner traits.
B)are caused by the situation.
C)do not reflect inner traits.
D)do not cause events.

Question 72

According to the text,observers tend to attribute a person's behavior to _______ the more that time passes.

A)the situation
B)his or her personal characteristics
C)both the situation and his or her personal characteristics
D)neither the situation nor his or her personal characteristics

Question 73

Burger and Pavelich (1994)found that voters were more likely to attribute the outcome of an election to the candidate's personal traits and positions the day after a presidential election,and to the nation's economy a year after the election.This represents which of the following explanations for the fundamental attribution error?

A)actor-observer difference
B)camera perspective bias
C)changing perspectives trend
D)self-awareness phenomenon

Question 74

According to a study by Burger and Pavelich (1994),voters were more likely to attribute the outcome of an election to the _______ the day after a presidential election,and to the _______ a year after the election.

A)poor weather on election day;candidate's oral presentation skills
B)candidate's oral presentation skills;poor weather on election day
C)candidate's personal traits and positions;nation's economy
D)nation's economy;candidate's personal traits and positions

Question 75

Inferring that Cinderella is truly meek as she cowers in her oppressive home is an example of how we often

A)focus on internal traits.
B)ignore temporary moods.
C)forget about situational influences.
D)notice public and private behavior.

Question 76

The tendency for observers to underestimate situational influences and overestimate dispositional influences on other people's behavior is called the

A)false consensus bias.
B)misinformation effect.
C)fundamental attribution error.
D)dispositional bias.

Question 77

Misha is struggling with her computer.She is asked if she usually encounters difficulty when using her computer.The answer to this question provides information about

A)consistency.
B)distinctiveness.
C)character.
D)consensus.

Question 78

What commands our attention as we shop for groceries each week is the environment around us,such as the number of people in front of us at the checkout counter.Yet when we watch another person's behavior at the grocery store,he or she,rather than the environment,occupies the center of our attention.As a result,we tend to engage in the attribution error.That is,we are irritable because the lines are long,but the other person is cantankerous because he or she is an unhappy person.What explanation below best explains this use of the fundamental attribution error?

A)actor-observer perspective
B)camera perspective bias
C)changing perspectives trend
D)self-awareness phenomenon

Question 79

In a study conducted by Lassiter and his colleagues (2005),participants observed a suspect confessing during a police interview.The results indicated that participants were more likely to perceive the confession as genuine when they viewed the confession

A)live.
B)through a two-way mirror.
C)through a camera focused on the suspect.
D)through a camera focused on the detective.

Question 80

Misha is struggling with her computer.She is asked if she has difficulty using other computers on campus.The answer to this question provides information about

A)consistency.
B)distinctiveness.
C)character.
D)consensus.