Social Psychology
STUDY GUIDE
Unit I: Social Thinking
Lesson I-1:
What is Social Psychology? (CH.1, pp.3-5)
Social Psychology’s Big Ideas (CH.1, pp.5-9)
Social Psychology and Human Values (CH.1, pp.9-16)
Objectives:
a) Distinguish between social psychology and sociology.
b) Give an example of how preconceptions can influence interpretations.
Key terms:
social psychology
culture
social representations
Lesson I-2:
Self-Concept (CH.2, pp.37-51)
Objectives:
a) Explain how self-concept differs in individualist and collectivist cultures.
b) Cite evidence of Nisbett’s claim that collectivism and individualism result in
different forms of thinking
c) Explain the significance of Nisbett and Schachter’s research.
d) Cite evidence of impact bias after negative events.
e) Describe Wilson’s findings about self-analysis.
Key terms:
self-schema
self-reference effect
possible selves
individualism
collectivism
impact bias
immune neglect
dual attitude
Lesson I-3:
Self Esteem ( CH.2, pp.51-55)
Perceived Self-Control (CH.2, pp.55-60)
Objectives:
a) Compare the “bottom-up” and “top-down” views of self-esteem.
b) Summarize Baumeister’s views about self-esteem.
c) Distinguish between an internal and external locus of control.
d) Describe Langer and Rodin’s study with nursing home patients.
e) Cite evidence supporting Schwartz’s claim about the “tyranny of freedom.”
Key terms:
self-esteem
self-efficacy
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locus of control
learned helplessness
Lesson I-4:
Self-Serving Bias (CH.2, pp. 61-69)
Objectives:
a) Give at least three examples of self-serving bias.
b) Offer evidence that self-serving bias is: a) adaptive, and b) maladaptive.
Key terms:
self-serving bias
self-serving attribution
false consensus effect
false uniqueness effect
group-serving bias
Lesson I-5:
Self-presentation (CH.2, pp.69-72)
Objectives:
a) Explain how self-handicapping protects self image.
b) Describe the process of impression management.
c) Compare the behavior of those who score high and low on self-monitoring.
Key terms:
self-handicapping
self-presentation
self-monitoring
Lesson I-6:
Perceiving Our Social Worlds (CH.3, pp.76-83)
Objectives:
a) Give at least three examples of how preconceptions affect social judgments.
b) Describe the phenomenon of spontaneous trait inference.
c) Summarize the findings of Loftus et al (2003).
d) Cite evidence that people reconstruct past attitudes and behavior.
Key terms:
priming
belief perseverance
misinformation effect
PRACTICE TEST I-A
Lesson I-7:
Judging Our Social World, part 1 (CH.3, pp.84-94)
Objectives:
a) Distinguish between controlled and automatic processing.
b) Give at least three examples of automatic thinking.
c) Cite evidence of the overconfidence phenomenon.
d) Describe three common heuristics.
Key terms:
overconfidence phenomenon
confirmation bias
2
availability heuristic
representativeness heuristic
counterfactual thinking
Lesson I-8:
Judging Our Social World, part 2 (CH.3, pp.94-98)
Objectives:
a) Give an example of illusory correlation and of illusion of control.
b) Show how mood affects judgment.
Key terms:
illusory correlation
illusion of control
regression toward the average
Lesson I-9:
Explaining Our Social World (CH.3, pp.98-109)
Objectives:
a) Distinguish between dispositional and situational attribution.
b) Identify the key idea in Heider’s attribution theory.
c) Name three kinds of information that influence our attributions.
d) Describe the fundamental attribution error.
e) Give two examples of the fundamental attribution error.
f) Offer two plausible explanations of the fundamental attribution error.
Key terms:
misattribution
attribution theory
Lesson I-10: Expectations of Our Social World (CH.3, pp.109-114)
Conclusions (CH.3, pp.114-117)
Objectives:
a) Describe Rosenthal and Jacobson’s study of expectations and performance.
b) Give three examples of behavioral confirmation.
c) Identify Nisbett and Ross’s proposals to improve “social” education.
Key terms:
self-fulfilling prophesy
behavioral confirmation
Lesson I-11: How Well Do Our Attitudes Predict Our Behavior? (CH.4, pp.120-127)
Objectives:
Key terms:
a) Give at least three examples of how people’s expressed attitudes fail to predict
their behavior.
b) Identify the methods used by researchers to minimize social influence on
expressed attitudes.
c) Describe the principle of aggregation.
d) Summarize the findings on behavior-specific attitudes.
e) List three conditions under which attitudes are most likely to predict behavior.
f) Cite evidence that self-consciousness makes attitudes more potent.
attitude
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Lesson I-12: When Does Our Behavior Affect Our Attitudes? part 1 (CH.4, pp.127-130)
Objectives:
a) Describe the Zimbardo prison study.
b) Cite research evidence that saying becomes believing.
Key terms:
role
PRACTICE TEST I-B
Lesson I-13: When Does Our Behavior Affect Our Attitudes? part 2 (CH.4, pp.130-136)
Objectives:
a) Give examples of the foot-in-the-door and low-ball phenomena.
b) Indicate how interracial behavior has changed racial attitudes.
c) Describe the methods used in brainwashing.
Key terms:
foot-in-the-door phenomenon
low-ball technique
Lesson I-14: Why Does Our Behavior Affect Our Attitudes? part 1 (CH.4 pp. 136-141)
Objectives:
a) Indicate how self-presentation theory and cognitive dissonance theory explain
the effect of actions on attitudes.
b) Describe Festinger and Carlsmith’s 1959 study of cognitive dissonance.
c) Give an example of deciding-becomes-believing.
Key terms:
self-presentation theory
cognitive dissonance theory
insufficient justification effect
Lesson I-15
Why Does Our Behavior Affect Our Attitudes? part 2 (CH.4 pp. 141-148)
Objectives:
a) Indicate how self-perception theory explains the effect of actions on attitudes.
b) Cite research evidence that actions can affect emotions.
c) Give an example of the overjustification effect.
d) Compare cognitive dissonance theory and self-perception theory.
Key terms:
self-perception theory
overjustification effect
Lesson I-16: What Influences the Accuracy Clinical Judgments? (CH.14 pp. 510-516)
Objectives:
a) Describe three problems that can affect the accuracy of clinical judgments.
b) Indicate how intuitive prediction by clinicians compares to statistical
prediction.
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Key terms:
clinical psychology
Lesson I-17: What Cognitive Processes Accompany Behavior Problems?
(CH.14 pp.516-528)
Objectives:
a) Identify three characteristics of the explanatory style of depressed people.
b) Give examples of how depressed moods cause negative thinking.
c) Give examples of how negative thinking causes depressed moods.
d) Explain social anxiety using self-presentation theory.
e) Discuss the three major issues that concern health psychologists.
Key terms:
depressive realism
explanatory style
Lesson I-18
What Are Some Social-Psychological Approaches To Treatment?
(CH.14 pp.528-533)
How Do Social Relationships Support Health and Well-Being?
(CH.14, pp.533-538
Objectives:
a) Describe two approaches to therapy that induce internal change through
external behavior.
b) Discuss possible reasons for the link between social support and health.
c) Cite at least three findings that link social support with happiness.
d) List two reasons why marriage enhances happiness.
Key terms:
behavioral medicine
health psychology
PRACTICE TEST I-C
Unit II:
Social Influence
Lesson II-1: How Are We Influenced By Human Nature and Cultural Diversity?
(CH.5, pp.154-163)
Objectives:
a) Give three examples of social norms.
b) Identify five norms that are cross-cultural, if not “universal.”
Key terms:
culture
evolutionary psychology
norms
personal space
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Lesson II-2:
How Are Gender Similarities and Differences Explained?
(CH.5, pp.164-171)
Objectives:
a) Identify four major gender differences related to social interaction.
Key terms:
gender
empathy
aggression
Lesson II-3: Evolution and Gender: Doing What Comes Naturally? (CH.5, pp. 171-177)
Objectives:
a) Explain the view of evolutionary psychology concerning mating preferences.
b) Identify the criticisms of evolutionary psychology.
c) Offer two possible reasons why gender differences shrink with age.
Key terms:
androgynous
Lesson II-4: Culture and Gender: Doing as the Culture Says (CH.5, pp. 177-182)
What Can We Conclude about Genes, Culture & Gender (CH.5, pp.182-185)
Objectives:
a) Give examples of how gender roles vary across cultures and over time.
b) Cite evidence that peers influence personality more than parents do.
c) Summarize the findings of Eagly & Wood (1999).
d) Identify three ways that the person and the situation may interact.
Key terms:
gender role
interaction
Lesson II-5: What is Conformity? (CH.6, pp.188-189)
What Are The Classic Conformity Studies? part 1 (CH.6, pp.189-198)
Objectives:
a) Distinguish among the three forms of conformity.
b) Describe the conformity studies of Sherif, Asch, and Milgram.
Key terms:
conformity
compliance
acceptance
autokinetic phenomenon
confederate
Lesson II-6: What Are The Classic Conformity Studies? part 2 (CH.6, pp. 198-207)
Objectives:
a) Discuss each of the four factors that breed obedience.
b) Explain how the foot-in-the-door phenomenon played a part in Milgram’s
studies.
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PRACTICE TEST II-A
Lesson II-7: What Predicts Conformity? (CH.6, pp.207-212)
Why Conform? (CH.6, pp.212-214)
Objectives:
a) Identify the conditions that are most conducive to conformity.
b) Distinguish between normative and informational influence.
Key terms:
cohesiveness
normative influence
informational influence
Lesson II-8: Who Conforms? (CH.6, pp.214-217)
Do We Ever Want to be Different? (CH.6, pp.218-220)
Objectives:
a) Indicate how each of the following predictors influences conformity:
personality, culture, and social role.
b) Identify two factors that can facilitate resistance to social pressure.
Key terms:
reactance
Lesson II-9: What Paths Lead To Persuasion? (CH.7, pp. 225-227)
What Are The Elements of Persuasion, part 1 (CH.7, pp.228-239)
Objectives:
a) Distinguish between central and peripheral route persuasion.
b) Identify two factors that determine the persuasiveness of a communicator.
c) Indicate when credibility or similarity is more likely to be effective.
d) Discuss the role of emotion in affecting the persuasiveness of a message.
e) Explain how discrepancy influences the persuasiveness of a message.
f) Compare the persuasiveness of one-sided versus two-sided appeals.
g) Identify the conditions in which primacy and recency effects determine the
persuasiveness of a message.
Key terms:
persuasion
central route persuasion
peripheral route persuasion
credibility
sleeper effect
primacy effect
recency effect
Lesson II-10: What Are The Elements of Persuasion, part 2 (CH.7, pp. 240-247)
Objectives:
a) Describe two factors that determine the persuasiveness of a communication
channel.
b) Describe two characteristics of an audience that determine persuasiveness.
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Key terms:
channel of communication
two-step flow of communication
Lesson II-11: Extreme Persuasion: How Do Cults Indoctrinate? (CH.7, pp.247-253)
How Can Persuasion Be Resisted? (CH.7, pp. 253-258)
Objectives:
a) Discuss the techniques that cults use to recruit and retain members.
b) Describe the technique of attitude inoculation.
c) Give two examples of attitude inoculation.
Key terms:
cult
attitude inoculation
Lesson II-12: What is a Group? (CH.8, p. 262)
Social Facilitation: How Are We Affected By The Presence of Others?
(CH.8, pp.262-267)
Objectives:
a) Distinguish between the effects of social facilitation on easy and hard tasks.
b) Identify the effects of crowding.
c) Offer three possible reasons why people are aroused in the presence of others.
Key terms:
group
social facilitation
evaluation apprehension
PRACTICE TEST II-B
Lesson II-13: Social Loafing: Do Individuals Exert Less Effort In A Group?
(CH.8, pp.268-272)
Deindividuation: When Do People Lose Their Sense of Self In Groups?
(CH.8, pp.272-276)
Objectives:
a) Explain why social loafing occurs.
b) Give two real-life examples of social loafing.
c) Describe the circumstances that are least conducive to social loafing.
d) Identify three factors that contribute to deindividuation.
e) Discuss the relationship between deindividuation and self-awareness.
Key terms:
social loafing
free ride
deindividuation
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Lesson II-14: Group Polarization: Do Groups Intensify Our Opinions?
(CH.8, pp.276-284)
Objectives:
a) Describe the risky shift phenomenon.
b) Cite experimental evidence of group polarization.
c) Give at least four examples of group polarization in everyday life.
d) Explain why group polarization occurs.
Key terms:
group polarization
social comparison
Lesson II-15: Groupthink: Do Groups Hinder Or Assist Group Decisions?
(CH.8, pp.284-291)
The Influence of the Minority (CH.8, pp.292-297)
Objectives:
a) Identify eight symptoms of groupthink.
b) List Janis’ recommendations for preventing groupthink.
c) Name three ways to enhance group brainstorming.
d) Describe three characteristics of the minority that make it persuasive.
e) Compare task leadership, social leadership, and transformational leadership.
Key terms:
groupthink
Lesson II-16: How Reliable Is Eyewitness Testimony? (CH.15 pp.543-554)
Objectives:
a) Explain why eyewitness testimony may be susceptible to inaccuracy.
b) Summarize Loftus’ findings on the misinformation effect.
c) Describe three ways to increase the accuracy of eyewitnesses and jurors.
Key terms:
misinformation effect
Lesson II-17: What Other Factors Influence Juror Judgments? (CH.15 pp.555-561)
Objectives:
a) Identify two characteristics of a defendant that can affect jurors' decisions.
b) Explain why judges' instructions to ignore biasing information often fail.
Lesson II-18: What Influences the Individual Juror? (CH.15 pp.561-567)
How Do Group Influences Affect Juries? (CH.15 pp.567-572)
Objectives:
a) Discuss ways to increase jurors' understanding.
b) Give an example of how jury selection might be biased.
c) Explain what is meant by the term “death-qualified” juror.
d) Identify at least three factors that can affect a jury's decision.
PRACTICE TEST II-C
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Unit III: Social Relations
Lesson III-1: What Is The Nature and Power of Prejudice? (CH.9, pp.302-311)
Objectives:
a) Cite research evidence of subtle and automatic forms of prejudice.
b) Give examples of benevolent and hostile sexism.
c) Indicate whether or not research findings support the claim that women’s work
and ideas are more likely to get devalued than men’s.
Key terms:
prejudice
stereotype
discrimination
Lesson III-2: What Are The Social Sources of Prejudice? (CH.9, pp.311-316)
Objectives:
a) Describe three social sources of prejudice.
Key terms:
social dominance orientation
ethnocentric
authoritarian personality
Lesson III-3: What Are The Motivational Sources of Prejudice? (CH.9, pp.316-323)
Objectives:
a) Summarize the basic ideas of scapegoat theory and of social identity theory.
b) Identify the factors that contribute to in-group bias.
Key terms:
realistic group conflict theory
social identity
in-group
out-group
in-group bias
terror management
Lesson III-4: What Are The Cognitive Sources of Prejudice (CH.9, pp.323-333)
Objectives:
a) Explain how categorization affects attitudes.
b) Explain how perceived distinctiveness or vividness can lead to prejudice.
c) Give two examples of how the fundamental attribution error leads to prejudice.
Key terms:
out-group homogeneity effect
own-race bias
stigma consciousness
group-serving bias
just-world phenomenon
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Lesson III-5: What Are The Consequences of Prejudice (CH.9, pp.333-340)
Objectives:
a) Explain how inconsistent information is incorporated into stereotypes
b) Summarize the findings of Word, Zanna & Cooper. (1974)
c) Cite research evidence of stereotype threat.
d) Explain how stereotypes bias judgments of individuals.
Key terms:
sub-typing
sub-grouping
stereotype threat
Lesson III-6: What is Aggression? (CH.10, pp.344-345)
What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Part 1 (CH.10, pp.345-349)
Objectives:
a) Compare and contrast Freud’s and Lorenz’s ideas about aggression.
b) Describe three biological influences on aggression.
Key terms:
aggression
hostile aggression
instrumental aggression
PRACTICE TEST III-A
Lesson III-7: What Are Some Theories of Aggression? Part 2 (CH.10, pp.349-354)
Objectives:
a) Summarize the basic ideas of frustration-aggression and social learning theory.
b) Identify the conditions under which frustration is most likely to produce
aggression.
Key terms:
frustration-aggression theory
frustration
displacement
relative deprivation
social learning theory
Lesson III-8: What Leads To Friendships and Attractions? Part 1 (CH.11, pp.384-399)
Objectives:
a) Identify three factors that contribute to the effect of proximity on friendship.
b) Describe two ways that physical attractiveness can influence social decisions.
c) Identify at least two factors that contribute to our ideas of attractiveness.
Key terms:
proximity
mere-exposure effect
matching phenomenon
physical-attractiveness stereotype
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Lesson III-9: What Leads To Friendships and Attractions? part 2 (CH.11, pp.399-407)
Objectives:
a) Cite research evidence that “likeness begets liking”.
b) Consider whether or not there is support for the idea that “opposites attract”.
c) Identify conditions that are most conducive to liking those who say they like
you.
Key terms:
complementarity
reward theory of attraction
Lesson III-10: What Is Love? (CH.11, pp.407-412)
What Enables Close Relationships (CH.11, pp.413-420)
Objectives:
a) Explain what the two-factor theory of emotion has to say about passion.
b) Describe two attributes that influence a person’s ability to experience
passionate love.
c) Compare passionate and companionate love.
d) Distinguish among the three common attachment styles.
e) Describe the equity principle of attraction.
Key terms:
passionate love
two-factor theory of emotion
companionate love
disclosure reciprocity
Lesson III-11:Why Do We Help?, part 1 (CH.12, pp.429-434)
Objectives:
a) Summarize the basic ideas of social-exchange theory.
b) Discuss evidence for and against social-exchange theory.
c) Identify possible exceptions to the feel bad-do good effect.
d) Cite research evidence supporting the feel good-do good effect.
Key terms:
altruism
social-exchange theory
feel bad-do good effect
feel good-do good effect
Lesson III-12: Why Do We Help?, part 2 (CH.12, pp.434-444)
Objectives:
a) Describe two social norms that influence helping behavior.
b) Explain how evolutionary psychology accounts for helping behavior.
c) Discuss the role of empathy in motivating helping behaviors.
Key terms:
reciprocity norm
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social-responsibility norm
kin selection
PRACTICE TEST III-B
Lesson III-13: When Will We Help? (CH.12, pp.445-455)
Objectives:
a) Provide at least three possible explanations for the bystander effect.
b) Identify the circumstances under which people in a crowd are most likely to
offer help.
c) Give at least two examples of how helping behavior can be modeled.
d) Indicate how time pressures and similarity influence helping behavior.
Key terms:
bystander effect
Lesson III-14: Who will help? (CH.12, pp. 455-458)
How Can We Increase Helping? (CH.12, pp.458-464)
Objectives:
a) Identify the network of traits that predisposes a person to helpfulness.
b) Describe the relationship between religiosity and helpfulness.
c) Discuss possible ways to increase helpfulness.
Key Terms:
door-in-the-face technique
moral exclusion
overjustification effect
Lesson III-15: What Creates Conflict? part 1 (CH.13, pp.468-475)
Objectives:
a) Describe the Prisoner's Dilemma and how it is used to study conflict.
b) Explain the Tragedy of the Commons.
c) Identify three features shared by the Prisoner's Dilemma and the Tragedy of the
Commons.
d) Describe five ways to resolve social dilemmas.
Key terms:
conflict
non-zero-sum game
Lesson III-16: What Creates Conflict? part 2 (CH.13, pp.475-483)
Objectives:
a) Describe Sherif's study of intergroup competition and conflict.
b) Discuss the implications of equity theory for understanding conflict.
c) Identify some of the factors at the core of the misperceptions leading to
conflict.
Key terms:
mirror-image perceptions
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Lesson III-17: How Can Peace Be Achieved? part 1 (CH.13, pp.483-497)
Objectives:
a) Describe the circumstances that are most conducive to desegregation.
b) Identify strategies for fostering cooperation among different groups.
Key terms:
equal-status contact
superordinate goal
Lesson III-18: How Can Peace Be Achieved? part 2 (CH.13, pp.497-504)
Objectives:
a) Compare the following conflict resolution strategies: bargaining, mediation,
and arbitration.
Key terms:
bargaining
mediation
arbitration
GRIT
PRACTICE TEST III-C
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Practice Test I-A
1.
Social psychology is the scientific study of
A.
how people think about, influence, and relate to one another.
B.
how people perceive, think about, and communicate with one another.
C.
how people observe, predict, and control one another.
D.
social groups, organizations, and institutions.
E.
how groups affect individuals.
2.
The sense that one is competent and effective constitutes one's
A.
self-esteem.
B.
independent self.
C.
learned helpfulness.
D.
self-efficacy.
E.
self-reference.
3.
People are most likely to resort to self-handicapping when
A.
the quality of their performance on a task is not particularly important.
B.
their success or failure at a task will not become public.
C.
they fear failure.
D.
they are certain of success.
E.
they want to avoid making someone else look bad.
4.
The self-reference effect illustrates how
A.
our sense of self is at the center of our world.
B.
self-efficacy promotes achievement.
C.
individualism leads to social isolation.
D.
most of us suffer from a negative self-image.
E.
possible selves can influence one's self-schemas.
5.
The discounting of situational effects in explaining people's behavior is known as the
A.
fundamental attribution error.
B.
self-serving bias.
C.
naturalistic fallacy.
D.
representativeness heuristic.
E.
misinformation effect.
6.
For qualities that are both subjective and socially desirable, most people consider
themselves to be
A.
worse than average.
B.
about average.
C.
better than average.
D.
too different from others to permit a fair comparison.
E.
equal to their siblings.
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Practice Test I-B
1.
What psychological term might best be used to describe the rule "I before E except after
C"?
A.
base-rate fallacy
B.
hindsight bias
C.
illusion of control
D.
heuristic
E.
behavioral confirmation
2.
The tendency to conclude that a person who likes to play chess and read poetry is more
likely to be a college professor of classics than a truck driver most clearly illustrates the
use of:
A.
the availability heuristic.
B.
the representativeness heuristic.
C.
belief perseverance.
D.
the illusion of control.
E.
the base-rate fallacy.
3.
Although Jason once scored a 270 in bowling, he has subsequently been unable to beat
that record no matter how much he practices. His experience may be partially understood
in terms of
A.
illusory correlation.
B.
regression toward the average.
C.
the representativeness heuristic.
D.
counterfactual thinking.
E.
the base-rate fallacy.
4.
Our attitudes predict our actions when
A.
other influences on our actions are minimized.
B.
the attitude involved is specifically about the action.
C.
we are conscious of our attitudes as we act.
D.
All of the above.
5.
Experiments confirm that people induced to speak or write in support of something they
doubt will feel bad about their deceit but will nevertheless begin to believe what they are
saying, provided that
A.
they weren't bribed or coerced into doing so.
B.
they are adequately rewarded for their endorsement.
C.
they do not have to go public with their arguments.
D.
the issue has no impact on anyone else's life or choices.
E.
they are especially susceptible to social influence.
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6.
People tend to cling to their beliefs even in the fact of contradictory evidence. This
tendency is known as the
A.
belief perseverance phenomenon.
B.
belief continuity.
C.
correspondence bias.
D.
belief disconfirmation bias.
E.
misinformation effect.
Practice Test I-C
1.
The tendency of mildly depressed people to make accurate rather than self-serving
judgments is referred to as
A.
accurate explanatory style.
B.
the Barnum effect.
C.
realistic pessimism.
D.
depressive realism.
E.
learned helplessness.
2.
According to the text, professional clinical judgment is vulnerable to
A.
illusory correlations.
B.
overconfidence bred by hindsight.
C.
self-confirming diagnosis.
D.
All of the above.
3.
Research investigating the nature of the connection between explanatory style and health
has shown that people who routinely use the pessimistic style
A.
have weaker bodily immune defenses.
B.
boost the morale of others via a contrast effect.
C.
also tend to be impulsive and resistant to influence.
D.
complain more but are not really sicker than optimists.
E.
manage to stay healthier than optimists.
4.
Cognitive dissonance theory proposes that we experience _____ when our beliefs are
_____.
A.
security; popular
B.
self-monitoring; unpopular
C.
tension; inconsistent
D.
anxiety; rejected by others
E.
disconnected; hostile
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5.
_____ theory assumes that our actions are self-revealing, so we can look to them when
we are uncertain about our feelings or beliefs.
A.
Self-presentation
B.
Cognitive dissonance
C.
Self-justification
D.
Self-perception
E.
Attribution
6.
According to the foot-in-the-door principle, if you get someone to agree to a small
request, he or she will
A.
later comply with a larger request.
B.
expect you to return the favor later.
C.
experience cognitive dissonance and refuse requests for all later favors.
D.
see himself or herself as altruistic and do similar favors for other people.
E.
be justified in asking you for a much larger favor in return.
Practice Test II-A
1.
When Milgram conducted his first series of experiments with a sample of 20- to 50-yearold men, he found that over 60 percent of them
A.
refused to deliver shocks beyond 150 volts.
B.
refused to deliver shocks past the 300-volt level.
C.
went clear to 450 volts.
D.
asked to be released from the experiment by 135 volts.
E.
refused to participate.
2.
In groups, men talk more ______________, while women talk more _____________.
A.
about others; about themselves
B.
about people; about issues
C.
to give information; to show support
D.
to show support; to criticize
E.
about themselves; about others
3.
According to evolutionary psychologists, the features that men find attractive in a woman
suggest ________.
A.
stability
B.
kindness
C.
strength
D.
fertility
E.
All of the above.
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4.
When Zanna and Pack led women to believe that they would meet an attractive,
unattached, nonsexist man who liked strong, ambitious women, the women
A.
behaved more intelligently and solved more problems.
B.
presented themselves in "traditionally feminine" terms.
C.
experienced a great deal of conflict over how they should present themselves.
D.
denigrated him as being probably not very attractive at all.
E.
were less able to concentrate on the problems they had to solve.
5.
Seven-year-old Mary says "Thank you" after opening each birthday present she receives
because her family considers it to be proper behavior. This best illustrates the influence
of a ________.
A.
norm
B.
schema
C.
role
D.
stereotype
E.
group
6.
In Muzafer Sherif's study, subjects concentrated on a small point of light in a dark room
and called out estimates of the distance it had moved. As time passes, the subjects gave
answers that
A.
converged.
B.
diverged.
C.
remained constant.
D.
first converged and then diverged.
E.
were inconsistent.
Practice Test II-B
1.
People who argue against their own self-interest are
A.
effective in persuading a female audience but not in persuading a male audience.
B.
effective with an intelligent audience but not with an unintelligent audience.
C.
viewed as inconsistent and thus lose their effectiveness.
D.
viewed as more credible and are thus more influential.
E.
effective in persuading a male audience but not in persuading a female audience.
2.
A co-actor is someone who
A.
does the same task as you at the same time.
B.
helps and cooperates with you.
C.
competes with you on a single task.
D.
imitates you.
E.
tries to distract you from the task you're doing.
19
3.
According to conformity research, a group's social power is deflated when it loses its
________.
A.
agenda
B.
anonymity
C.
unanimity
D.
heterogeneity
E.
reactance.
4.
High school students Chas and Marnie have been dating each other casually. When
Marnie's parents urge her to stop seeing Chas and ask her to go out with "nicer boys,"
Marnie announces that she and Chas are actually "in love" and have decided to go steady.
Marnie's behavior most likely illustrates the effects of ________.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
the false uniqueness effect
the fundamental attribution error
the self-serving bias
psychological reactance
normative influence
5.
Inoculation research suggests that to build resistance to persuasion one ought to
A.
insulate oneself from media influence.
B.
recognize that compliance often leads to acceptance.
C.
be an active listener and critical thinker.
D.
seek social support for one's beliefs.
E.
rely on a two-step flow of communication.
6.
An automobile manufacturer who produces advertisements associating his cars with a
young, attractive family enjoying picnics is most clearly using
A.
central route persuasion.
B.
peripheral route persuasion.
C.
two-step flow of communication.
D.
social implosion.
E.
the sleeper effect.
Practice Test II-C
1.
A group that _____ is at risk for developing groupthink.
A.
is isolated from contrary viewpoints
B.
is amiably cohesive
C.
has a directive leader
D.
desires unity
E.
All of the above.
20
2.
Group polarization occurs when group discussion _____ group members' initial
inclinations.
A.
challenges
B.
reverses
C.
neutralizes
D.
strengthens
E.
divides
3.
Group polarization occurs because
A.
people tend to express stronger opinions when they know that others share their
views.
B.
thinking about an idea for a few minutes can strengthen people’s opinions.
C.
group discussion tends to favor the dominant viewpoint.
D.
people want other members of the group to like them.
E.
All of the above.
4.
Research shows that when a judge rules evidence to be inadmissible and admonishes the
jury to ignore it,
A.
jurors are generally able to follow the judge's instructions.
B.
jurors have a hard time ignoring the evidence and its influence on their
deliberations.
C.
jurors do so if the evidence damages the defendant's case but not if it hurts the
prosecution's case.
D.
the evidence typically becomes the focus of debate in jury deliberations.
E.
jurors do so if the evidence damages the prosecution's case but not if it hurts the
defendant's case.
5.
Studies of eyewitness testimony indicate that
A.
jurors have very good ability at discerning whether eyewitnesses have mistakenly
identified an innocent person.
B.
when witnessing conditions are shown to have been poor, jurors do not usually
believe eyewitness testimony.
C.
eyewitnesses who are shown to have poor eyesight have little effect on the juror's
judgment.
D.
police lineups are especially good at helping eyewitnesses to make accurate
identifications of suspects.
E.
None of the above is true.
6.
Making group members' performance individually identifiable seems to be one effective
strategy for reducing
A.
social facilitation.
B.
social loafing.
C.
minority influence.
D.
group polarization.
E.
groupthink.
21
Practice Test III-A
1.
Which statement best summarizes the findings to date on people's evaluations of work
attributed either to men or to women authors?
A.
The author's gender does not significantly affect people's judgments of it.
B.
Both males and females tend to deprecate women's work.
C.
Males tend to deprecate women's work while females' judgments are not affected
by an author's gender.
D.
Females but not males tend to deprecate women's work.
E.
Both genders tend to deprecate work produced by authors of the opposite gender.
2.
Which of the following does the text cite as a social source of prejudice?
A.
scapegoating
B.
authoritarianism
C.
just-world phenomenon
D.
unequal status
E.
outgroup homogeneity
3.
A Black in an otherwise White group, a man in an otherwise female group, or a woman
in an otherwise male group seems
A.
less prominent than the others in the group.
B.
less responsible for what is happening in the group.
C.
to have both fewer good and fewer bad qualities than others in the group.
D.
to have fewer good qualities but more bad qualities than others in the group.
E.
None of the above.
4.
Stereotype threat refers to
A.
the greater likelihood that minority groups will be negatively stereotyped.
B.
the greater tendency for authoritarians to engage in negative stereotyping.
C.
the tendency for stereotyping to lead to prejudice and discrimination.
D.
a self-confirming apprehension that one's behavior will verify a negative
stereotype.
E.
a tendency on the part of an ingroup to expect the outgroup to behave in
stereotypical ways.
5.
In general, the greater our familiarity with a social group, the more we see its
A.
members as similar to one another.
B.
flaws rather than its strengths.
C.
diversity.
D.
strengths rather than its flaws.
E.
members as similar to ourselves.
22
6.
Aggression is any physical or verbal behavior that
A.
may result in physical or psychological damage.
B.
springs from anger or hostility.
C.
results in harm regardless of intent.
D.
is intended to hurt someone.
E.
is overly assertive.
Practice Test III-B
1.
Which of the following proverbs finds greatest support in the research on social
attraction?
A.
"Familiarity breeds contempt."
B.
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
C.
"You can't tell a book by its cover."
D.
"Birds of a feather flock together."
E.
"You always hurt the ones you love."
2.
Human interactions are guided by a sort of social economics. This statement reflects the
perspective of _____ theory.
A.
social comparison
B.
social exchange
C.
network investment
D.
cultural value
E.
social responsibility
3.
The belief that people should help those who need help, regardless of possible future
exchanges, has been labeled the
A.
social responsibility norm.
B.
moral inclusion norm
C.
foot-in-the-door effect.
D.
code of cultural dues.
E.
empathy norm.
4.
The tendency for novel stimuli to be liked more after repeated exposure to them is
referred to as
A.
the mere exposure effect.
B.
the novelty phenomenon.
C.
display liking.
D.
proactive stimulation.
E.
the matching phenomenon.
23
5.
as
The redirection of aggression to a target other than the source of frustration is referred to
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
6.
displacement.
substitution.
instrumental aggression.
projection.
sublimation.
The two-factor theory of emotion indicates that passionate love can be increased by
A.
mere exposure.
B.
the matching phenomenon.
C.
secure attachment.
D.
physical arousal.
E.
anger.
Practice Test III-C
1.
In the Prisoner's Dilemma, if both prisoners confess, each will _____; if neither
confesses, each will _____.
A.
get a moderate sentence; get a light sentence
B.
get a severe sentence; get a light sentence
C.
get a severe sentence; go free
D.
get a moderate sentence; get a severe sentence
E.
go free; get a light sentence
2.
Muzafer Sherif's famous study of group relations in boys' camps was undertaken to
examine the power of _____ to evoke intergroup hostility.
A.
social dilemmas
B.
competition
C.
racial prejudice
D.
status differences
E.
attribution errors
3.
_____ occurs when conflicted parties submit their disagreement to someone who will
study the issues and impose a settlement.
A.
Bargaining
B.
Amelioration
C.
Mediation
D.
Arbitration
E.
Social exchange
24
4.
According to the text, the fact that the desegregation of public housing units in New York
City seemed to reduce racial prejudice suggests that ________ sometimes reduces
conflict.
A.
contact
B.
conciliation
C.
mediation
D.
a superordinate goal
E.
competition
5.
Few findings have been more consistent than the fact that _____ people are helpful
people.
A.
happy
B.
well-rested
C.
well-educated
D.
easy-going
E.
anxious
6.
The fact that a bystander may be less likely to interpret an incident as an emergency when
other unresponsive bystanders are present provides an example of
A.
normative influence.
B.
informational influence.
C.
diffusion of responsibility.
D.
social loafing.
E.
social facilitation.
25
Answer Key
Practice Test I-A
1
A
2.
D
3
C
4
A
5
A
6
C
Practice Test II-B
1
D
2
A
3
C
4
D
5
C
6
B
Practice Test I-B
1
D
2
B
3
B
4
D
5
A
6
A
Practice Test II-C
1
D
2
D
3
E
4
B
5
E
6
B
Practice Test I-C
1
D
2
D
3
A
4
C
5
D
6
A
Practice Test III-A
1
A
2
D
3
E
4
D
5
C
6
D
Practice Test II-A
1
C
2
C
3
D
4
A
5
A
6
A
Practice Test III-B
1
D
2
B
3
A
4
A
5
A
6
D
Practice Test III-C
1
A
2
B
3
D
4
A
5
A
6
B
26