Social Psychology – Fall 2009
Study Guide Exam #1
1.
Define social psychology. Explain the three major components of the definition.
2.
Discuss current trends in social psychology (i.e., its cutting edge).
3.
Briefly discuss the origins and early development of social psychology.
4.
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of the following observational research
methods: survey method, naturalistic-observational method, archival research, and the
case study method.
5.
Discuss and interpret a correlation coefficient.
6.
State the major limitation of the observational methods and the correlational method that
the experimental method overcomes.
7.
Describe the three requirements necessary to demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship
between two variables. Create an example to help clarify your answer.
8.
Describe the three things an experimenter controls to avoid confounding variables and to
demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between variables.
9.
Define internal validity. Discuss problems with achieving internal validity. Describe
solutions to these problems.
10.
Define external validity. Describe ways to improve an experiment's external validity.
11.
Describe meta-analysis. Explain why it is important.
12.
Discuss the ethical guidelines for research psychologists. State why these guidelines are
important.
13.
State the duty of the Institutional Review Boards. List some problems with the use of the
IRBs.
14.
List the basic channels through which we communicate nonverbally. Discuss the role of
nonverbal cues in detecting deception.
15.
Discuss Jones and Davis' Theory of Correspondent Inferences.
16.
Discuss Kelley's Attribution Theory.
17.
Describe biases or errors in the attribution process.
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18.
Describe the theories which have been proposed to explain why first impressions are so
important.
19.
Discuss schemas.
20.
Describe the heuristics and other strategies of the "cognitive miser".
Give an example of each.
21.
Discuss the potential sources of errors in social cognition. Create an example of each.
22.
Compare and contrast the Cannon-Bard theory, the James-Lange theory, and Schachter's
two-factor theory of emotion.
23.
Summarize the basic ideas of Schachter's theory of emotion, and indicate how we can be
induced to misattribute arousal to external factors.
24.
Discuss how one's affective state influences perceptions of ambiguous stimuli,
memory, and creativity.
25.
Discuss self-presentation tactics.
26.
Discuss the personal-social identity continuum.
27.
State how we come to know our inner feelings and views according to Allen Bem's selfperception theory.
28.
Contrast self-esteem, self-concept, and self-efficacy.
29.
Discuss social comparison theory. In your answer, be sure to describe circumstances in
which social comparisons lead to increases in self- esteem and circumstances in which
social comparisons lead to decreases in self- esteem.
30.
Describe a masculine, a feminine, an androgynous, and an undifferentiated person
according to the Bem Sex Role Inventory.
31.
Describe Wicklund's theory of objective self-awareness. How can this theory account for
Csikszentmihalyi and Figurski's (1982) finding that people reported being less happy when thinking about
themselves than when thinking about other things?
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