week 6 reading

Need for cognition is

a person's habitual level of thoughtfulness and mental activity.

What is the minimum number of people you need to agree with you to reduce the effect of conformity?

1

Which of the following are ways to reduce cognitive dissonance?

1. Change the perceived importance of one cognition. 2. Modify one or both cognitions. 3. Deny that the two cognitions are related to one another.

Which of the following are dispositional causes of behavior?

1. You did well on test because you studied very hard. 2. You trip and fall because you are clumsy.

Which of the following are situational causes of behavior?

1. You trip and fall because the curb is uneven and not marked well. 2. You did well on a test because the test was easy.

Which of the following affect the ease with which we change our attitudes?

1. source of message 2. characteristics of the target 3. characteristic of the message

What is the definition of conformity?

A change in behavior brought about by following the standards of others

Based on the findings of Kelley's classic experiment, who is likely to be perceived more positively?

A person described as warm and competent

Which of the following individuals would be the most persuasive communicator?

A trustworthy individual who has extensive knowledge of the topic

You have two contradictory cognitions--that you smoke AND smoking causes cancer. If you note that you exercise so much it doesn't matter that you smoke, which of the four strategies to reduce cognitive dissonance did you use?

Adding additional cognitions

A cause of behavior is brought about by a person's internal traits or personality characteristics.

dispositional cause

Why do we use schemas to represent people?

Because our knowledge of others has gaps

How did Solomon Asch test his hypotheses regarding conformity?

By presenting a group of people with a series of lines and asking which was the longest

You have two contradictory cognitions: that you smoke AND smoking causes cancer. If you note that the evidence that smoking causes cancer is weak, which of the four strategies to reduce cognitive dissonance did you use?

Changing the perceived importance of one cognition

You have two contradictory cognitions--that you smoke AND smoking causes cancer. If you note that there is no evidence linking smoking and cancer, which of the four strategies to reduce cognitive dissonance did you use?

Denying that the cognitions are related

In what situation is conformity most likely in the following group project scenario?

Everybody in the group agrees that the project must focus on genetic factors.

What is the name of the phenomenon in which we tend to overattribute others' behavior to dispositional cues?

Fundamental attribution error

Melanie and Jennifer are sisters watching the same ad on television. Melanie is thoughtfully considering the issues the speaker is bring forth, and Jennifer is paying attention to the speaker's hair and clothes. Which of the following best describes the type of processing each girl is engaging in?

Melanie is taking the central processing route, and Jennifer is taking the peripheral processing route.

Who is more resistant to persuasion?

More intelligent people

Which of the following was the result of Festinger's classic experiment on cognitive dissonance?

More participants who were paid $1 changed their attitudes than did participants who were paid $20.

What was the general conclusion of Asch's study on conformity?

Most people conformed to a clearly erroneous group opinion at least once.

What is the term for a cause of behavior that is brought about by a person's internal traits or personality characteristics?

dispositional cause

What would a social psychologist be most likely to study?

Personal attitudes and the perception of others

Who is most likely to change their attitude about performing a monotonous one-hour activity involving little enjoyment? Multiple choice question.

Someone who is paid $5

How are conformity and ambiguity of task/situation related?

The more ambiguous the task/situation, the greater the level of conformity.

Which of the following best illustrates the importance of a message's source on the effectiveness of a persuasive message?

The person who delivers the persuasive message is physically attractive.

When are fear-producing messages generally effective?

When they provide an audience with a means of reducing the fear

Which of the following is an example of the self-serving bias?

You got an A in psychology because you studied hard and a D in biology because the teacher doesn't like you.

Which of the following is an example of the assumed-similarity bias?

You just met Antonio and already feel like you have lot in common.

Which psychologist is best known for the Stanford Prison study?

Zimbardo

Cognitive is the conflict that occurs when a person holds two contradictory attitudes or thoughts.

dissonance

What is the definition of an attitude?

an evaluation of a person, behavior, or concept

The bias explains why people believe that their friends and acquaintances are fairly similar to themselves.

assumed-similarity

Behavior influences , which are evaluations of a person.

attitudes

are evaluations of a particular person, behavior, belief, or concept.

attitudes

are evaluations, feelings, or opinions about people.

attitudes

Tara decides that Emily's inattention to detail and general detachment from school stem from the fact that Emily is too preoccupied by her job. Which theory is Tara using to come to this explanation?

attribution

The halo bias, self-serving bias, and assumed similarity bias are examples of biases in making

attribution

theory seeks to explain how we decide, on the basis of samples of an individual's behavior, what the specific causes of that person's behavior are.

attribution theory

Information processing approaches have found that, in forming an overall judgment of a person, individuals use a psychological _________ of the individual traits we see.

average

economics is concerned with the irrationality of people's judgments.

behavioral

People with a high need for cognition are more likely to employ ______ route processing.

central

Which processing route is more effective in changing attitudes?

central

______ route processing occurs when the recipient thoughtfully considers the issues and arguments involved in persuasion.

central

route processing occurs when the recipient is swayed in their judgments by the strength of the argument, whereas peripheral route processing occurs when the recipient is swayed by factors unrelated to the nature or quality of the argument.

central

Some psychologists have discovered two primary information processing routes to persuasion: the route and the route.

central , peripheral

In general, people who are highly involved and motivated use route processing to comprehend a message.

central route

Gary was listening to a lecture about abortion, which he highly disagreed with. By the end of the lecture, however, he had changed his attitudes about the topic because the speaker was incredibly knowledgeable about the topic and had won him over with the strength of her argument and her knowledge. This is an example of

central route processing.

processing route produces stronger, lasting attitude change and processing route produces weaker, less persistent attitude change.

central, peripheral

Need for is a person's habitual level of thoughtfulness and cognitive activity.

cognition

occurs when a person holds two contradictory attitudes or thoughts.

cognitive dissonance

Entrapment is when a group

commits to a failing point of view to justify investments that have already been made.

The person who delivers a persuasive message is known as the message

communicator

As we gain more experience with people, our impressions of them become more

complex

is a change in behavior or attitudes brought about by a desire to follow the beliefs or standards of other people.

conformity

Driving aggressively because you are an aggressive person is an example of a cause of behavior.

dispositional

Harriet already has an A in her class, but she spends hours reading her textbook because she wants to make sure she understands everything. Harriet's decision is influenced by a(n)

dispositional

Social roles are

expectations for people who occupy a given social position.

is a type of thinking in which group members share such a strong motivation to achieve consensus that they lose the ability to critically evaluate alternate points of view.

group think

consist of two or more people who interact with one another and are interdependent.

groups

The effect leads to misperceptions of others.

halo

Harry is intelligent, kind, and loving, but is he conscientious? Most people would guess yes. This is an example of what?

halo effect

People with a (high/low) need for cognition enjoy thinking, philosophizing, and reflecting on the world.

high

People with a ______ need for cognition are more likely to employ central route processing.

high

Impression is the process when an individual organizes information about another person to form an overall impression.

impression formation

Central traits are the major traits considered in forming of

impressions of others

Halo effect is:

inferring from one positive trait that a person has many positive traits

Which approach says that in forming an overall judgment of a person, we use a psychological "average" of the individual traits we see, just as we would find the mathematical average of several members?

information processing

People with a (high/low) need for cognition become impatient when forced to spend too much time thinking about an issue.

low

Wanda was raised in a Western culture. Her coworker recently failed to complete a task, making the whole department look bad. Wanda thinks her coworker is lazy and doesn't really take pride in her work even though some of the office equipment broke down that her coworker needed to use. Wanda is

making the fundamental attribution error.

People working on ambiguous tasks and questions are ______ susceptible to social pressure. Multiple choice question.

more

The ______ attractive a group appears to its members, the greater its ability to produce conformity.

more

Two-sided messages, which include both the communicator's position and the one he or she is arguing against, are ______ effective compared to one-sided messages.

more

According to research on impression formation, as we gain more with people, our impressions of them become more complex.

more experience

are expectations regarding behavior appropriate to a specific group of individuals.

norms

Having (number) person(s) present who agree(s) with you is sufficient to reduce conformity pressures.

one person

Peripheral route processing occurs when ______.

people are persuaded on the basis of factors unrelated to the nature or quality of the content of a persuasive message.

In Kelley's famous impression formation study Multiple choice question.

people were given information about a lecturer before they heard the lecture.

route processing occurs when people are persuaded on the basis of factors unrelated to the nature or quality of the content of a persuasive message.

peripheral

Eric has diabetes but can't seem to stop eating unhealthy and sugary foods. He continues to tell himself that he'll start a new diet soon, but never does. This is an example of

reducing cognitive dissonance.

_____ help us predict the behavior of others with relatively little information.

schemas

are sets of cognitions about people and social experiences.

schemas

When their teams win, coaches usually feel that the success is due to their coaching. But when they coach a losing team, coaches may think it's due to the poor skills of the players. This illustrates which bias in the way people make attributions?

self serving bias

Groups that unanimously support a position show

the most pronounced conformity pressures.

Driving aggressively because your friend is hurt and needs to get to the hospital quickly is an example of a cause of behavior.

situational

What is the general term for the cognitive processes by which people make sense of others and themselves?

social cognition

is the way people understand and make sense of others and themselves.

social cognition

A broad general term that refers to how people affect each other in their interactions is social ______.

social influence

Social is the process by which social groups and individuals exert pressure on an individual.

social influence

Social are expectations regarding behavior appropriate to a group.

social norms

psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected by others.

social psychology

The social role of a is comprised of behaviors such as studying, listening to an instructor, and attending class.

social role of a student

A is a group member whose dissenting views make nonconformity to the group easier.

social supporter

What is the name of a group member whose dissenting views make nonconformity easier for a person?

social supporter

The social rank held within a group is called

status

is the social rank held within a group.

status

Fundamental attribution error is:

the tendency to overattribute others' behavior to dispositional factors

Assumed-aimilarity bias is:

the tendency to think of people as being similar to ourselves

Which of the following would be considered a positive central trait when associated with the word "industrious"?

warm

In public settings, which gender is more easily persuaded, particularly when they have less knowledge about the message's topic?

women