Social Psychology: Chapter One. Multiple Choice

which of the following values would indicate the "strongest " correlation?

-.72

the fundamental purpose of a theory is to

explain some particular group of events or processes

e.

society doesn't have much influence over how individuals should behave in most situations

d.

some individuals are more strongly affected by society than are others

a researcher worked with members of a political action committee to survey potential voters by telephone before an election. PAC members conducted the poll themselves while the researcher tabulated the results. the poll asked which candidate people plan to vote for in the upcoming election. which of the following may present problems for the accuracy of the results?

(One question was "do you plan to vote for candidate A or B?", the survey was scheduled to coincide with a large rally for one candidate , the sample of potential voters was taken from telephone directories only.) all of these may present problems for the accuracy of the results.

__________

2. Social psychologists focus their attention mainly on individuals because ________.

__________

3. As a scientific discipline, social psychology seeks ________.

__________

4. Social Psychology embraces ________ as core scientific values.

__________

5. The focus of social psychology is on ________.

variables are said to be confounded when

a factor that is not systematically varied exists and may have an effect on an experiment's outcomes

d.

a narrow focus on the determinants of group behavior

social psychology embraces ___ as core scientific values

accuracy, objectivity, skepticism, and open- mindedness

b.

accuracy, objectivity, statistical support, and open-mindedness

as a scientific discipline, social psychology strives for

an objective understanding of behavior

c.

an understanding of the nature and causes of social behavior

recent research on implicit processes demonstrate that such processes

are quite influential in our social behavior and thought

social psychologists are primarily interested in understanding the many factors and conditions that shape the social ___ and ___ of individuals

behavior; thought

radha is from india and is jana's friend . in making a judgment about radha's reason for being late for coffee, jana may infer that radha is late because she had a confusing day or Jana may decide that radha doesn't really have much respect for her schedule. this is best explained as an example of a

cognitive process

a "causal relationship" means that

changes in one variable causes changes in another variable

a correlation exists between two variables when

changes in the two variables are related to each other

the ways we think about other people and the things we remember about them may have an effect on our behavior. these thoughts and memories are examples of

cognitive processes

the basic goal of a theory is

explanation

the practice of providing participants with a full description of the purposes of a study after they have participated in the study is known as

debriefing

in experimental research, one variable is measured. this varisable isknow as the

dependent variable

random assignment of research participants to experimental conditions means that

each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to each experimental condition

the extent to which experimental results can be generalized to real-life situations is a question of an experiment's

external validity

suppose a researcher found a very strong positive correlation between how much television a child watches and their levels of aggression. which of the following conclusions is most accurate

given that this investigation represents a correlational study, it is impossible to determine the nature of causality

which of the following study question could absolutely not be explored using experimentation due to ethical reasons?

how do individuals cope when their spouse dies

in experimental research, one variable is systematically changed this variable is known as .

independent variable

the variation referred to by evolutionary psychologists is that

individual members of any given species differ from each other in many ways

e.

interpersonal psychology

suppose a researcher exposes participants to one of the following three scenarios : for a 20 min period, they hear either classical music, rock music, or no music. afterwards the researcher measures the general mood of the participants. the three scenarios refer to the ___ of the ___ variable

levels; independent

the dependent variable is defined as the variable that is

measured by the experimenter

when research results are not consistent with a theory, the researcher's next step usually involves

modifying the theory and collecting additional data

research has, in adults, documented a negative correlation between 1) obesity, and 2) participation in physically demanding leisure activities. One possible interpretation of these results is that

obese people tend to exercise less than non obese people do

c.

objectivity, theoretical coherence, open-mindedness, and skepticism

there are two important ethical issues involved in the use of deception in research. these issues include the possibility of harming research participants by the deception and ___

participants may come to mistrust researchers in the future

which of the following categories is not one of the five categories mentioned in your text regarded factors affecting social interaction?

perceptual processes

the procedure that ensures that participants are not assigned to an experimental condition on the basis of any individual characteristics is called

random assignment

the people who complete a survey must be representative of the population about which conclusions are to be drawn. this is known as the issue of

sampling

suppose smoking and drinking alcohol are found to be correlated at +.65. we can conclude that

smoking is probably related to drinking

lawshawna meets another girl at a party who is not from lashawnas ethnic group, and whom lashawna judges, based on her stereotype of that group, is probably shallow and a gossip. the best description of lashawnas judgement is that she is engaged in

social cognitive process

the focus of social psychology is on

the behavior and thoughts of individuals

b.

the behavior of groups is too difficult to study in laboratory conditions

one reason that social scientists put their faith in the scientific method is that

the scientific method produces more conclusive evidence than other methods

Kim knows she needs to go take summer courses, but worries about leaving her new boyfriend for 3 months. she wonders, will "absence make the heart grow stronger" be true, or is "out of sight, out of mind" more applicable. this is an example of

the unscientific nature of conventional wisdom

recent neuroscience research has demonstrated that prejudice actually has two underlying dimensions, ____ and ___, with each dimension have a low or high value

warmth ; competence

the majority of research participants who learn that they have been deceived in an experiment seem to react

without negative feelings

the way a question is phrased may sometimes influence the way people respond to the question. in survey research, this is known as the issue of

wording

which is not an advantage of using surveys to collect information

surveys can be used to determine causal relationships between variables

why take a scientific approach? part of the answer lies in the ___ nature of proverbs, axioms, maxims and the like

contradictory

the divorce rate in the US has changed dramatically since the 1950s. this change may be explained in part by the effect that ___ have on behavior

cultural beliefs

the social rules concerning how individuals should behave in specific situations are known as

cultural beliefs and norms

c.

cultural differences have a strong effect on the behavior of groups but only a weak effect on individuals

a multicultural perspective is recognized as increasingly important to research in social psychology because

cultural factors such as race or ethnicity help determine self identity

the system of shared meanings, perceptions, and beliefs held by persons belonging to the same group is known as

culture

the process of carefully observing behavior as it occurs is known as

systematic observation

people tend to become more irritable and aggressive when the weather is hot and humid. this fact is an example of the effects of ___ on social behavior

environmental variables

despite some variation, there appear to be universal mating preferences for certain physical features. this fact suggests that these attractiveness features are influenced by

evolutionary factors

based on a ___, a child, early in life, is more likely to look like

evolutionary perspective; its father

the branch of psychology that seeks to examine the potential role of genetic factors in different aspects of human behavior is known as

evolutionary psychology

in one study, when participants encountered a person who was ___ on both warmth and competence, neural circuitry that normally responds to the presence of a human being ____

low; was not activated as if the person were not human

Based in his estimate of how long it would take him to complete his mid term essay, Armando told his instructor he would turn in the paper on Tuesday but was late turning it in, causing his instructor to deduct a letter grade from the paper. Next time Armando makes such a promise based on a plan, he will likely ___________.

make the same planning error and be late again

amando, based on his estimate of how long it would take him to complete his midterm essay, told his instructor he would turn in the paper on tuesday, but was late turning it in, causing his instructor to deduct a letter grade from the paper. Next time Armando makes such a promise based on a plan, he will likely

make the same planning error and be late again

a researcher is interested in the relationship between the courtship behaviors and physical characteristics of people. If the researcher should establish that there is a correlation of +.37 between physical attractiveness and dating frequency, we can conclude that

more attractive people date more often than less attractive people

a ___ in social phsycology ___ in the US

multicultural perspective; recognizes a widening of diversity

the observation of behavior as it occurs in natural settings is known as

naturalistic observation

the process of giving participants as much information is possible about experimental procedures to be used before the participants agree to participate is known as

obtaining informed consent

e.

open-mindedness, skepticism, statistical support, theoretical coherence

social psychologists focus their attention mainly on individuals because

our behavior is influenced by actions of other individuals in social situations

research has shown a positive correlation between 1) socio-economic status of the family of origin and 2) college graduation rates. Based on this information, we can conclude that

students born into wealthier families are more likely to complete college than students born into poorer families

in order to determine whether people have a strong or weak preference for the color of their cookware, a company wants to collect information from many of its past customers. if the number of past customers is very large, the company may want to consider using ___ methods

survey

in an experiment, researchers wanted to know whether changing the level of lighting in a factory would have an effect on the productivity of employees. in order to address this question, employees were randomly assigned to three seperate identical work areas but the lighting was set at a different level in each of the work areas. then employees in all three work groups began to operate machinery that produced small electrical components. the number of components produced by each group was carefully tallied at the end of each 8 hour shift. In this example, the hypothesis is s

the level of lighting will affect employee productivity

the moon is full, and cristenel has been behaving wildly. although sober, hes been alternately barking like a dog at strangers on the street, and/or asking them "arent ya just happy now?" it is possible that cristenel's behavior is due to

the moon as an environmental influence

suppose a company asked its workers, " now that you have received a raise, how satisfied are you with you job?" and found that 87% indicated they wer "very satisfied" or "satisfied" A major concern of this study would likely be

the way the question was asked

d.

theoretical coherence, participant-observer approach, client-centered stance, skepticism

the evolutionary perspective on social behavior suggests that

we inherit tendencies or dispositions to behave in certain ways

b.

a unified theory of group behavior

a framework that reflects basic concepts, as well as statements about the relationships between these concepts, iskonwn as

a theory

researchers who systematically change one variable in order to determine what effect this has on another variable are using

experimental methods

a researcher thinks that a person's mood has an effect on how helpful that person is likely to be. to test this, the researcher has some research participants come to the laboratory wher they are first given a difficult test and then either heavily praised or strongly criticized for their test performance. Afterwards, participants are asked to help the researcher's assistant move some heavy boxes into another room. the researcher makes careful note of how many and which participants help with moving the boxes. in this example the hyothesis is

a person's mood has an effect on how helpful that person is likely to be

e.

a subjective understanding of group functions

the planning fallacy is

a tendency for individuals to believe that projects will take less time than they actually do

___ processes represent those factors and processes which influence thought, feelings, or behaviors and of which we are either not aware or only dimly aware

implicit

louis doesn't think he is a very worthwhile person, and spends most of his time engaged in bad business deals. Having been influenced by a ____ process, louis has relocated to

implicit, St louis MO

social psychologists sometimes conceal information about the true purpose of a study from the research participants until after the study is completed. This use of deception is justified when

knowledge of the study's purpose may alter the behavior of the participants

one advantage of knowing the correlation between two variables is that

one variable can then be used to predict another

some social psychologists use deception in their research in order to

prevent the purpose of the research from having an effect on participant's behavior

area of psychology that studies the interplay between brain events and thought, emotion and behavior

social neuroscience

the branch of psychology that seeks to understand the nature and causes of individual behavior and thought in social situations is

social psychology

researchers were recently surprised to learn that the correlation between the type of clothing people wear when they are not at work and the type of jobs they hold is approximately zero. based on this, we can conclude that

there is no relationship between the types of clothing worn in non-work settings and the type of work that people do

in one study, 3 month old african infants who had grown up with mainly african people, or who had grown up with a mixture of both african and caucasion people, were shown photos of both african people and caucasian people. while the infants from the first group spent more time looking at photos of africans, the second group showed no such preference demonstrating that

there was an implicit influence for attraction to the photos of persons reflecting the racial make-up of those with whom they had grown up

even though ther is no single 'best" method of research, the ___ method is generally preferred by social psychologists

experimental

it is ___ to remove from research the possibility of any harm to a participant ___

impossible; because research occasionally involved some mild distress for participants

researchers believe that experiencing strong negative emotions such as fear or anxiety will increase people's need to affiliate. to test this idea, the researchers randomly assigned participants to one of two small groups. members of gorup 1 were left for 10 minutes in a room with no windows. while waiting, the lights went out for a brief period of time and the participants coudl hear screams from another room. Members of group 2 were like wise left for 10 minutes in a room with no windows , but the lights were left on and no screams were heard. researchers observed how frequently members of each group started conversations with other members of their group on non-experiment related topics. In this experiment, the hypothesis is

the strong negative emotions will increase people's need to affiliate with others

the evolutionary perspective on social psychology suggests taht

we inherit tendencies to behave in certain ways