AP Psychology
Guided Reading
Chapter 14: Social Psychology
1. Describe the type of research social psychologists focus on.
2. Define the term social cognition.
3. What is the attribution theory?
4. Describe the difference between a dispositional attribute and a situational attribute.
5. Provide an example of a self-serving bias.
6. Define the fundamental attribution error.
7. Define the term the actor-observer bias AND explain how it affects the way we view others’
behaviors.
8. How would a psychologist explain the term attitudes?
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9. Differentiate between central route of persuasion and peripheral route of persuasion.
10. Why do you think central route of persuasion leads to a more stable opinion shift than peripheral
route of persuasion?
11. Describe “foot-in-the-door” phenomenon.
12. How did the Chinese use the foot-in-the-door phenomenon to gain the collaboration of US
prisoners of war?
13. Using the change in racial attitudes in the years following school desegregation and the passage of
the Civil Rights Act, explain the statement “moral action strengthens moral convictions”.
14. Define reciprocity AND provide an example that you, a friend, or family member may have
encountered in recent months. (if not, then make one up!)
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15. How does low-ball technique differ from door-in-the-face technique?
16. Define the term role AND cite one example of a new role you may be adopting in the near future.\
17. Alcoholic Anonymous often uses the phrase “ fake it until you make it”. Explain this phrase from
the viewpoint of roleplaying and changes in attitudes.
18. Briefly describe Philip Zimbardo’s (1972) famous Stanford prison experiment.
19. How did role playing affect the attitudes of participants in the well-known lab study of a simulated
prison (Zimbardo, 1972)?
20. Describe Cognitive Dissonance Theory.
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21. Think of a behavior you would like to change. Using the attitudes-follows-behavior principle, how
would you go about changing that behavior (make sure you write down the behavior you are
discussing).
22. Describe the chameleon effect.
23. Define the words mimicry and empathy.
24. Define the term conformity with respect to psychology.
25. Briefly describe Solomon Ache’s Conformity experiment (1955).
26. List the conditions that strengthen conformity.
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27. Describe normative social influence and how it relates to conformity.
28. Describe informational social influence and how it relates to conformity.
29. Summarize Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiments.
30. Why were Milgram’s methods questioned with respect to his research ethics?
31. According to Milgram’s studies, under what conditions were people the most obedient? (4 key
points)
32. Discuss what you have learned from conformity and obedience studies with respect to your
susceptibility to social influence.
33. What is social facilitation?
34. Describe the effect crowding has on social facilitation.
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35. What is social loafing and provide and explanation of why it occurs.
36. What does it mean to be individuated?
37. Describe group polarization.
38. Explain how the Internet provides a medium for group polarization.
39. Define the term groupthink and provide one example of this behavior.
40. Differentiate between social control and personal control.
41. What is minority influence? Identify one characteristic common to minority influence.
42. Define the terms prejudice, stereotype, and discrimination.
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AP Psychology
43. Identify the three components of prejudice.
44. Differentiate between overt and subtle forms of prejudice. Give an example of each.
45. Discuss the social factors that contribute to prejudice.
46. Distinguish between the ingroup and the outgroup.
47. Define ingroup bias.
48. What is scapegoat theory?
49. Explain how scapegoating illustrates the emotional component of prejudice.
50. Discuss 4 ways that cognitive processes help create and maintain prejudice. (Include in your
answer categorization, vivid cases, just world phenomenon, and hindsight bias).
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51. In terms of psychology, define aggression.
52. How does the above definition of aggression differ from the everyday usage of this term?
53. Describe the genetic, neural and biochemical influences of aggression.
Genetic:
Neural Influences:
Biochemical Influences:
54. Describe the frustration-aggression principle.
55. How do aversive events trigger aggressiveness?
56. Provide an example of how reinforcement of aggressive behavior can lead to further aggression.
57. Describe how observing models of aggression leads to further aggression.
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58. Define the term social scripts and explain how the media’s influence on aggressive behavior may
be due in part to the social scripts they portray.
59. Discuss the effects of violent video games on social attitudes and behavior.
60. Define the term conflict with respect to social psychology.
61. What is a social trap?
62. In what ways do psychologists encourage individuals to cooperate in order to avoid social traps?
63. Describe the phrase “mirror image perceptions” and explain its relationship to social conflict
among individuals.
64. What is proximity and why is it friendship’s most powerful predictor?
65. Describe the mere exposure effect.
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66. How does physical attractiveness affect attraction to one another?
67. How does similarity influence interpersonal attraction?
68. Describe the reward theory of attraction.
69. Differentiate between passionate love and companionate love.
70. Define the terms equity and self-disclosure with respect to companionate love.
71. What is altruism? Provide one example.
72. Describe the steps in the decision-making process involved in bystander intervention.
73. What is the bystander effect?
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74. Describe the social exchange theory.
75. Differentiate between the reciprocity and the social-responsibility norms.
76. How can superordinate goals override differences among people and inspire cooperation?
77. How do communication and conciliation help to minimize conflict?
Summarize the GRIT (graduated and reciprocated initiatives in tension-reduction) strategy advocated
by Charles Osgood (1962, 1980).
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