Social Psychology Questions

Norms are best described asA. buffer zones we like to maintain between ourselves and othersB. a person's characteristic emotional reaction to stressC. personality traits we inherit from our parentsD. rules for socially acceptable behaviorE. our deeply held beliefs about what is moral and ethical

The gradually escalating levels of destructive obedience in the Milgram experiments best illustrate one of the potential dangers ofA. deindividuationB. the fundamental attribution errorC. social facilitationD. the bystander effectE. the foot-in-the-door phenomenon

An emphasis on the unconscious and early childhood experience characterizes which school of psychology?

Vince, an extraverted university freshman, has just moved into a dormitory. Vince is most likely to become friends withA. Alfonse, a junior who is majoring in psychology and lives across the hallB. James, a lonely sophomore who lives down the hall and is undecided about his majorC. Bill, his assigned roommate who is majoring in computer scienceD. Mohammed, an introverted student who lives on the next floor and enjoys playing chessE. Ester, a freshman who sits across the row from him in his first large lecture class

Circumstances that increase ________ are likely to reduce ________.A. anonymity; groupthinkB. anonymity; stressC. stress; social loafingD. self-awareness; social facilitationE. self-awareness; deindividuation

Solomon Asch reported that individuals conformed to a group's judgment of the length of linesA. only when the group was composed exclusively of malesB. only when members of the group were friends prior to the experimentC. even when the group judgment was clearly incorrectD. only when the group was composed of at least six membersE. even when the group seemed uncertain and repeatedly altered its judgment

Psychologists describe shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation asA. companionateB. implicitC. deindividuatedD. superordinateE. altruistic

When New York University women were dressed in Ku Klux Klan-style hoods, they demonstrated significantly more aggression. This finding is best explained in terms ofA. social facilitationB. modelingC. groupthinkD. deindividuationE. ingroup bias

In Milgram's obedience experiments, "teachers" exhibited a somewhat lower level of compliance with an experimenter's orders whenA. the "learner" complained of a slight heart condition just before the experiment beganB. the "learner" screamed as the shocks became more punishingC. the experiment was not associated with a prestigious institution like Yale UniversityD. the "learner" was in another room where his physical well-being couldn't be observed by the "teacher"E. the "teacher" was instructed to administer the learning test and someone else was asked to shock the "learner"

When the task of correctly identifying an individual in a slide of a four-person lineup was both difficult and important, participants in an experiment were especially likely to conform to others' wrong answers. This best illustrates the impact ofA. the mere exposure effectB. the fundamental attribution errorC. ingroup biasD. informational social influenceE. normative social influence

Fritz Heider, who coined the term "Fundamental Attribution Error," concluded that people tend to attribute others' behavior either to theirA. biological motives or their psychological motivesB. heredity or their environmentC. abilities or their effortD. dispositions or their situationsE. thoughts or their emotions

A vivid example of a North Korean's behavior has an unusually strong influence on people's judgments of all North Koreans primarily because peopleA. are motivated to confirm their current stereotypes of specific groupsB. typically categorize other individuals on the basis of barely noticeable characteristicsC. strongly resent those who draw a lot of attention to themselvesD. are prone to committing the fundamental attribution errorE. estimate the frequency of group characteristics in terms of the memorability of these characteristics

Opinion change resulting from a thoughtful focus on the content of arguments illustratesA. central route persuasionB. social facilitationC. cognitive dissonanceD. normative social influenceE. peripheral route persuasion

Social loafing refers to the tendency for people toA. become more distracted from their tasks when working with friends than when working with strangersB. perform a complex task more poorly when others are presentC. exert less effort when they are pooling their efforts toward a common goalD. stop working once they have reached their goalE. exert less effort when they are paid by the hour, not by the amount of work completed

Which of the following comments is most likely to be made in a group characterized by groupthink?A. "We all seem to be in basic agreement, so there's no sense in continuing our discussion of this issue"B. "To proceed democratically, we need to know the honest opinions of all group members"C. "Let's research the opposing sides of the issue so that we know we're making an educated decision as a group"D. "As a group, we have to think carefully about all the pros and cons surrounding this issue"E. "Do any of you see any potential problem with our group's position?"

Prejudice is a(n) ________; discrimination is a(n) ________.A. dispositional attribution; situational attributionB. normative influence; informational influenceC. role; normD. attitude; behaviorE. ingroup bias; outgroup bias

Overgeneralized beliefs about a group of people that often underlie prejudicial emotions are calledA. social trapsB. social normsC. stereotypesD. situational attributionsE. superordinate goals

Organisms often respond to ________ with a fight-or-flight reaction.A. social facilitationB. discriminationC. superordinate goalsD. the mere exposure effectE. stress

At a conscious level, Aaron doesn't think he's prejudiced. Yet he automatically feels uncomfortable in situations where he has to interact with people of different races from his own. Aaron's experience best illustrates the distinction betweenA. social facilitation and social loafingB. situational and dispositional attributionsC. equity and self-disclosureD. normative and informational social influenceE. explicit and implicit attitudes

Comparisons of identical and fraternal twins highlight the impact of ________ on aggression.A) genetic influencesB) attributionC) proximityD) the bystander effectE) deindividuation