MAR 3503 Exam #1 Example Questions
Multiple choice:
Students in med school often tend to diagnose themselves or their friends with the
illnesses they learn about in class, seeing the various symptoms of the diseases in
themselves or others, while failing to notice the symptoms they do not have or the many
ways in which they are perfectly healthy. What might this be an example of?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Hindsight bias
Naïve realism
Affect heuristic
Confirmation bias
You’re considering buying a new car, although you’re not sure if you need or can afford it.
The salesman entices you with an offer of a $2500 discount for college students, and with
that offer in mind, you think of many other reasons why buying the car would be a good
idea. When the time comes to sign the deal, however, the shifty salesman tells you the
offer no longer applies. What, according to Cialdini in Influence, is this compliance
technique?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Low-balling
Foot-in-the-door
Rejection-then-retreat
Halo effect
Under which conditions might James Vicary have seen actual increases in Coke sales by
subliminally flashing encouragements to buy it on movie screens, at least according to
Strahan, Spencer, and Zanna?
a.
b.
c.
d.
The words were flashed and there were signs advertising Coke all over the theater
The words were flashed on a cold day
The words were flashed following a recent price increase on concessions
The words were flashed during a promotion where all guests were given as much
free salty popcorn as they like with their ticket
Short answer:
Suppose a recent study found that the younger a couple is, the less money they spend on
Valentine’s Day. The researchers concluded that younger people are more cynical about
love than older generations. But as you know, one shouldn’t draw causal conclusions from
correlational data, and the third variable problem is part of the reason why. What is the
third variable problem, and what might a third variable be in this particular case?
Think about attitude hierarchies and the steps involved with how you developed an
attitude toward the book I assigned, Why We Make Mistakes. Name the three steps in
order, and then describe how each step might have occurred in this particular case.