chapter 11a. What Is Social Psychology's Focus?; Social Thinking

Rhonda has just learned that her neighbor Patricia was involved in an automobile accident at a nearby intersection. The tendency to make the fundamental attribution error may lead Rhonda to conclude that:

Patricia's recklessness has finally gotten her into trouble.

Nora has strong feelings about the presence of the Confederate flag outside public buildings in her town. These feelings stem in part from her political beliefs, and they may influence her voting behavior in the near future. Nora has a(n) _____.

attitude

situational attribution

attributing behavior to the environment

dispositional attribution

attributing behavior to the person's disposition and traits

Blanche is extremely interested in politics and believes an upcoming election is very important to the future. Blanche would most likely be persuaded by a campaign message relying on _____ route persuasion. Please choose the correct answer from the following choices, and then select the submit answer button.

central

central persuasion

occurs when a person is persuaded by the content of the message

peripheral persuasion

occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness

Celebrity endorsements represent one way to influence an audience via _____ route persuasion.

peripheral

Martina knows little about politics and is not especially interested in the outcome of political races. Martina would MOST likely be persuaded by a campaign message relying on the _____ route to persuasion.

peripheral

Dr. Guthrie explores why the same person may act differently in different situations. Dr. Greenwald investigates why different people act differently in the same situation. Which statement is MOST likely true?

Dr. Guthrie is a social psychologist, whereas Dr. Greenwald is a personality psychologist.

Laxmi is a mother. The responsibilities and expectations associated with this position constitute a social:

role

Dr. Scholz is reading an article describing research in which investigators examined how the presence of other people influenced participants' performance on a variety of tasks. Dr. Scholz is MOST likely reading the Journal of Research in _____ Psychology. Please choose the correct answer from the following choices, and then select the submit answer button.

social

It is an election year, and a volunteer asks if you would put a small, 1-foot sign in your yard. You agree. The next week, your wife can't believe you agreed to let the volunteer put a new, 3-foot sign on the front lawn. This technique is known as:

the foot-in-the-door phenomenon.

During a test, Jack impulsively copied several answers from a nearby student's paper. He felt very uncomfortable about having done this until he convinced himself that copying answers is not wrong if classmates are careless enough to expose their test sheets. The theory that explains Jack's behavior is _____ theory.

cognitive dissonance

Professor Stewart wrote a very positive letter of recommendation for a student, despite his doubts about her competence. After writing the letter, he began to develop a more favorable attitude about the student's abilities. Which theory BEST explains why?

cognitive dissonance theory

Lindsay is writing an essay supporting the notion that our attitudes are based on our behavior. One topic Lindsay might NOT discuss in the essay is:

peripheral route persuasion.

cognitive dissonance

Inner tension that a consumer experiences after recognizing an inconsistency between behavior and values or opinions

Marci suggests that the aggressiveness of her sister's new friend is the result of the friend's abuse during childhood. Marci's inference about the cause of the girl's behavior is an example of:

an attribution.

Marilyn thinks a strict class-attendance policy is an indication of her professor's overly controlling personality, rather than a necessity dictated by the limited number of class sessions in a course that meets only once each week. Her judgment BEST illustrates:

the fundamental attribution error.

social loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable