Text Review for Exam 2
SOP 3004 - Dr. B. R. Schlenker
The following are key concepts you should know and questions you should be able to answer from each
chapter. You should be able to identify examples of concepts and principles. Numbers in parentheses are
page numbers in the text.
Chapter 5 – GENDER, GENES, & CULTURE
Human Nature & Cultural Diversity - What two perspectives dominate current thinking? (Evolutionary
Perspective and Cultural Perspective)
Where do anthropologists think we all originated? Darwin.
What is evolutionary psychology? What is natural selection? What is the basic premise? How do all
humans rank others (171-172)? Are ideas about economic justice universal?
What is culture? What does the cultural perspective propose? Highlights human adaptability (172). Is
much of our behavior socially programmed or hardwired according to the cultural perspective, and
why would we say this (172)? Is the “genetic leash” long or short (172)?
Norms; personal space; role; status; stereotype. Define each; how are these concepts related? What
functions does each serve?
Universal norms - describe some. Friendship norms (respect privary, make eye contact, don’t divulge
confidences) (175). What is Brown’s universal norm about forms of address (176-177)?
Role theory - What analogy does role theory use for human behavior?
How do norms, roles, and status affect attitudes and behavior?
High & low status roles (Messé, Kerr, & Sattler, 179; Humphrey, 179; Langer & Benevento, 179);
How do these affect perceptions & behaviors? What is role reversal?
Gender Similarities & Differences - What characteristics do humans notice first?
Sex; gender. How similar & different are men and women, physically, psychologically, & behaviorally?
When groups are “different,” which group becomes the focus of attention? (182)
Independence vs. connectedness - What findings support the idea that there are gender differences in
independence vs. connectedness? When facing stress what reactions occur for men (fight or flight)
and women (tend & befriend)? Do men and women gravitate toward the same types of jobs? Are
there differences in empathy? Who smiles more? Who is better at reading emotions and being
sensitive to nonverbal cues? Who is better at expressing emotions?
Social dominance; styles of communication. What findings support the idea that there are gender
differences in social dominance? How pervasive is the gender difference in social dominance? What
leadership style differences exist? What conversational style differences exist? How do writing
styles differ?
Aggression. What findings support the idea that there are gender differences in aggression?
Sexuality. What findings support the idea that there are gender differences in sexuality?
How does evolutionary psychology explain sex differences? On what types of traits are sex differences
predicted versus not predicted (190)? On what basis does nature select traits (191)? What qualities
will men and women strive to offer (191)? What do men and women look for in mates? What role
do hormones seem to play? What age preferences for a mate do men and women exhibit? As people
mature to middle age and beyond, what happens? (193) What two criticisms have been directed at
evolutionary psychology? (hindsight & enormous cultural variation and change)
Culture. What cultural “universals” seem to exist in gender socialization (195-196)? To whom does
socialization give roots or wings? Gender roles; Zanna & Pack (196); Morier & Seroy (196). How
do behavioral manifestations of egalitarianism differ across genders and cultures? How have gender
roles changed in the US?
What is peer-transmitted culture? What is the nurture assumption? Harris (198). How important is peer
influence? Parental influence? Genetics? Plomin & Daniels (199): According to some behavior
geneticists, how similar are two children in the same family? What evidence supports the role of peer
influence (199)? To Harris, what is the route through which parental influence travels (199-200)? In
humans & primates, where does cultural change originate (200)?
Interaction between biology & culture. What is the “great lesson of social psychology?” In what three
ways do people influence the social situation?
Chapter 6 – CONFORMITY, OBEDIENCE, & ANTI-CONFORMITY
What role does conformity play in society? Is conformity always “bad”? How is going along with others
viewed in Japan?
Conformity, compliance, obedience, acceptance -- define each concept.
Sherif (autokinetic effect). Jacobs & Campbell (210). Chameleon effect (Chartrand & Bargh, 211).
Suggestibility. Phillips (212); copycat suicides.
Asch. How often did people conform (roughly) in Asch’s studies? What are the differences between
research by Asch and Sherif? (213) Why are the results of Sherif & Asch startling? (215)
Milgram. How “predictable” were Milgram’s findings (217)? How much obedience occurred? Did the
studies raise ethical concerns? Did Milgram’s subjects experience or report any harm?
What factors influenced the amount of obedience in Milgram’s paradigm (218-221)? Emotional distance;
closeness & legitimacy of authority; institutional authority; dissenters. Lydon & Dunkel-Schetter -emotional distance (219); Hofling et al. -- nurses’ obedience (220)
How do the following terms relate to Milgram’s findings: foot-in-the-door technique, blame-the-victim,
power of the situation, fundamental attribution error. Swim & Hyers (225). Milgram’s
compartmentalization of evil (225). Procrastination (Sabini & Silver, 225-226). Bierbrauer (226).
What predicts conformity? Describe the conditions (228-233): group size; unanimity; cohesion; status;
public response; no prior commitment. Wilder (228-229); Swim et al. (231).
Informational influence & normative influence: Define each. How can we tell when each occurs? How
is each related to acceptance vs. compliance?
Is there a personality type that obeys more? In what situations will personality matter most (236)? What
cultural differences are found?
Reactance; boomerang effect. Heilman (239). Might reactance be related to underage drinking?
Asserting uniqueness: Need for uniqueness; Snyder & Fromkin (239); Snyder (239). Spontaneous selfconcept; McGuire (240). What qualities do we mention about ourselves (distinctive attributes)?
Chapter 7 – PERSUASION
Education vs. propaganda (247). How big are the effects of persuasion attempts and when are they most
potent (247)?
Hurdles to persuasion (248): attention, comprehension, yielding (believe it?), recall (remember it?),
behavioral intention, action.
Two routes to persuasion: central vs. peripheral, involving systematic vs. heuristic processing. What is
involved in each? Which is more effortful? When will each occur? Which is more lasting?
Who says what, how, to whom?
Who:
credibility (expertise & trustworthiness). How do these characteristics influence persuasion? What
is the sleeper effect? How can credibility & attractiveness be increased? Erickson et al. (252).
Walster & Festinger (252); Eagly, Wood, & Chaiken (252). What does faster speech do? How
does faster speech affect perceptions of the speaker & message?
attractiveness. How does attractiveness affect persuasion? What increases the attractiveness of a
communicator? Pysical appeal; similarity.
When are similar communicators more effective than credible ones, & vice-versa (254)?
What is said:
Reason vs. emotion (mood, fear). What factors influence when each type of appeal is more effective?
What type of appeal persuades people who are educated or analytical?
What is the effect of good feelings? How does mood affect reliance on peripheral cues? Are
unhappy people more or less persuaded by weak appeals?
What is the effect of arousing fear? Is greater fear more effective than less fear? Leventhal (258);
Banks, Salovey, et al. (258). When do fear appeals work? Do they work when the fear pertains
to a pleasurable activity? What happens if a protective strategy is or is not offered? Vivid
imagery (259).
Discrepancy. Aronson, Turner, & Carlsmith (259). How discrepant should the message be in order
to be effective? What role does involvement play?
One-sided vs. two-sided appeals. Werner et al. (260). Hovland, Lumsdaine, & Sheffield (260).
When does each type of appeal work best? Why?
Primacy vs. recency. Asch (262). When should one talk first? Last? Miller & Campbell (262).
How is it said:
Active vs. passive reception. Crawford (263). Grush (264). How effective is political advertising?
How is persuasion related to the significance & familiarity of the message? (265)
Personal vs. media influence. Eldersveld & Dodge (265); Farquhar & Maccoby (265). Two-step
flow of communication. Chaiken & Eagly (266) - type of media: video, audio, written.
To whom is it said:
How is self-esteem related to persuasion?
How is age of the audience related to persuasion? How does one explain the generation gap (life
cycle vs. generational explanations)? How persuadable are older adults (267)? Newcomb (268).
What events are most important in our lives (Schuman & Scott, 268)?
Types of thoughts: forewarning; distraction; involvement. How and why do these influence
persuasion? Need for cognition. What does stimulating the thinking of the audience do? How
can one stimulate the thinking of an audience (rhetorical questions; multiple speakers; feeling
responsible; being relaxed; repeating the message; getting undistracted attention)?
Cults. What principles help to explain cult behavior? How are these principles applied by cult leaders?
Who is more likely to join a cult? How similar are many of our everyday groups (e.g., fraternities,
sororities, self-help groups, psychotherapy) to cults?
Resisting influence: attitude inoculation. Is it easier to accept or doubt persuasive messages? McGuire
(278). “Poison parasite,” Cialdini et al. (270). Can children be inoculated against peer pressure to
smoke? Is it best to isolate children from controversial ideas as a way of protecting them? How
effective is attitude inoculation? Does an ineffective appeal simply produce no change in beliefs or
can it produce a boomerang effect? Darley & Cooper (283).
Chapter 8 – GROUP DYNAMICS
What is a group? What is a coactor?
Social facilitation: Triplett (287). How does the presence of others affect performance? Does this
happen in animals, too? What was the original meaning of social facilitation? The current meaning?
Zajonc’s intergration (287). What is the role of arousal? ...dominant & nondominant responding?
Why do some tasks produce better performance & others worse performance in presence of others?
What types of tasks do each? Michaels et al. (288).
What does being in a crowd do? How does crowding affect arousal?
Why do other people increase our arousal? evaluation apprehension; distraction; mere presence
Social loafing: What is it? When does it occur? Free riders. How does evaluation apprehension relate to
social loafing? What effects are produced by increases & decreases in evaluation apprehension?
What are some examples of social loafing in everyday life? How can social loafing be reduced?
(e.g., being identifiable; challenging, appealing, involving tasks; adding incentives; with friends &
reliable others). Does social loafing occur in collectivist cultures? Is it more or less than in
individualistic cultures?
Deindividuation: What is it? What creates it? (group size, anonymity, arousing & distracting activities,
diminished self-awareness) What effects does it have? Zimbardo (299, both studies); Ellison et al.
(300); Diener (300); Watson (300). How are self-awareness & self-control related to
deindividuation?
Group polarization: Risky shift. Stoner (303). Why does the risky shift occur? Are group shifts always
risky? What is group polarization? Give some examples of polarization (305-307). Why does
polarization occur? What roles do informational influence & normative influence play? Social
comparison. Baron et al. (309). Pluralistic ignorance. Miller & McFarland (310).
Groupthink: What is it? When does it occur (312: cohesive group; isolation; directive leader)? What are
the symptoms? Do cohesive groups always produce groupthink? How can groupthink be prevented
or reduced? Does brainstorming in small groups produce more creative ideas? Do the group
members feel as if they are more creative when brainstorming (319)? How can brainstorming be
enhanced (319-320)?
Minority influence: What makes a minority influential? What roles do consistency, self-confidence,
defections from majority play? What is the minority slowness effect (322)? Are minorities usually
disliked (Nemeth, 322)? Is leadership minority influence? Task leadership & social leadership; what
styles do each of these exhibit? “Great Person” theory of leadership (324-325). What qualities do
effective leaders possess (325)?
Chapter 15 – SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY IN COURT
Eyewitness testimony:
How persuasive is eyewitness testimony? Loftus (607). If witness conditions are poor (e.g., a
witness with poor eyesight not wearing glasses), are eyewitnesses still believed (607)? If a
witness has a poor memory for details, is he/she more or less believed? ... more or less accurate?
Well & Leippe (607-608).
How accurate is eyewitness testimony? When is it more accurate? Are confident witnesses more
accurate? Should jurors, as the Supreme Court advised, take into account the level of certainty of
the witness when judging truth?
What causes errors in testimony (misinformation effect, retelling, feedback to witnesses)? Loftus
(611-613); Ceci & Bruck (613). How does retelling affect testimony? Wells, Ferguson, &
Lindsey (603). Does it matter whether testimony is given for a defendant or plaintiff (613-614)?
How does feedback affect testimony? Wells & Bradfield (614). How can errors be reduced
(615-618: train police interviewers; minimize false lineup identifications; educate jurors).
Defendant’s characteristics: How often do judges agree with jury verdicts in criminal & civil cases
(Kalven & Zeisel, 619)? How much do the facts matter (Saks & Hastie, 619)? How do physical
attractiveness (e.g., baby-faced defendant), similarity, and liking affect judgments? Wiseman (620);
Downs & Lyons (620). What evidence indicates that similarity affects judgments (620-621). When
the evidence is clear & jurors focus on it, how large are their biases (Kaplan & Schersching, 622)?
Judge’s instructions: Can inadmissable testimony or pre-trial publicity be ignored? How is reactance
involved? How does a judge’s admonition to disregard pretrial publicity affect jurors? Kramer et al.
(623). How can the effects of inadmissable testimony be minimized (623)?
Other issues: How does the severity of potential punishment, the experience of the jurors, & the victim’s
attractiveness & suffering affect verdicts?
Jurors’ characteristics: Does it matter how DNA evidence/statistical evidence is described (627;
Thompson & Schumann)? How important is a convincing story vs. “naked numbers” (627)? Does
evidence indicate that scientific jury selection is effective (628-629)? Which is more important in
determining a verdict, the evidence or the individual characteristics of jurors (Saks & Hastie, 629)?
When will the characteristics of jurors be most likely to influence a verdict? Do “death-qualified”
jurors have some common characteristics?
Jury as a group: What is the “two-thirds majority” rule. Minority influence: When will a minority be
most influential? Are high-status male jurors usually more influential than others (632)? Group
polarization - How does it affect jury deliberations? Hastie, Penrod, & Pennington (632-633).
Leniency - When evidence is not highly incriminating, do deliberating jurors become more lenient?
12-person juries - Are 12 heads better than 1? Do jury deliberations increase individual biases or
cancel them out? Are 6 heads as good as 12? (less likely to reflect diversity, less likely to recall
testimony accurately, spend less time deliberating, hang less often, less likely to reach “correct”
verdicts)
Simulated and real juries: What is the conclusion of the majority of the U. S. Supreme Court about the
value of simulated studies in predicting the behavior of actual jurors?