PSYC4200 Test 1 Study Guide

A person high in reciprocation wariness would most likely endorse which of the following statements?

Asking for someone's help gives that person power over your life.

Conformity is defined as

The occurrence of similar behaviors among a group of people

Ann believes that patrons in a bar will be more likely to leave a tip, and more likely to leave a bigger tip, in a tip jar if the jar already has some money in it, compared to when the jar is empty. To test this belief, she leaves her tip jar empty about half of the time when there are customers in the bar, and the other half of the time she makes sure there is at least $5 in the jar. She then compares her tip money when the jar is empty to her tip money when it is "spiked." The control group in this study would be

The patrons who see an empty tip jar

Stan generally believes that, based on what he has observed, people possess an "attractiveness stereotype" such that physically attractive people are viewed positively by other in many ways, and are therefore treated positively by others as well. Based on this idea, he specifically predicts that people who are well-dressed and smile a lot will be more likely to hold higher paying and more prestigious jobs than "physically unattractive" people will. Stan's specific prediction that well-dressed smilers will hold higher paying jobs than poorly dressed frowned is an example of

A hypothesis

A theory is

A set of ideas or a logical framework for explaining the occurrence of a set of observations

Which of the following situations would not be predicted by social impact theory?

A teacher can exert more control over a large class than a small class.

Which of the following phenomena is defined as the ways in which people are affected by the real or imagined presence of others? A) social influence B) psychological reactance C) the auto kinetic effect D) pluralistic ignorance

A) social influence

Imagine an Asch-like conformity study in which we ask questions of a group of seven strangers, the last of whom is the only real research participant. During the critical trials, they are asked two questions. One question is, "what is 3 plus 4?" And the first six people (i.e., the confederates) answer "8." In another question, everyone is given two liquids to taste and is then asked to state their preference. Liquid A is very bitter and liquid B is sweet. The first six people all say they prefer the taste of liquid A, but the research participant privately strongly prefers B. What would you expect real RPs in this experiment to do?

Be more likely to go along with the group on the taste question than the addition question

Which of the following persons is considered a "creditor" in terms of their reciprocation ideology?

Bertram, who likes to be generous with his friends so they will help him in the future

Which method(s) will help a person avoid being caught in a compliance trap?

Both vigilance and reciprocation wariness

Which of the following statements about social psychology is the most accurate? A) social psychologists rely primarily on correlational research B) social psychologists argue that genetics do not exert causal effects on social behavior C) social psychologists examine the influence of situations on behaviors D) social psychologists stress individual differences in behavior

C) social psychologists examine the influence of situations on behaviors.

public conformity refers to

Conformity of behavior, even though it does not reflect the conforming person's true attitudes, opinions, or beliefs

Private conformity (or conformity with private acceptance) refers to

Conformity that also reflects the person's attitudes, opinions, or beliefs

Which of the following is LEAST characteristic of the goals of social psychology? A) understanding how people in different cultures think, feel, and behave B) understanding how people control each other's behaviors C) evaluating the accuracy of folk theories about how situations influence behavior D) understanding how personality traits predispose people to respond to major events in their lives

D) understanding how personality traits predispose people to respond to major events in their lives

Which of the following does not account for refusal of others' requests?

Following the norm of reciprocity

The nature of Milgram's obedience research paradigm exploited which of the following compliance-induction strategies?

Foot-in-the-door technique

Solomon Asch's famous series of experiments, which asked people to judge the correct length of a line when everyone else in the room gave the wrong answer demonstrated that

In the presence of a unanimous majority, people would often publicly conform to the group's opinion, even when it was factually incorrect

Which of the following is a fundamental difference between individualist and collectivist cultures?

Independent cultures tend to view family relationships as voluntary, whereas collectivists tend to see family relationships as more binding.

In an experiment, some factors are controlled by the experimenter and others are used to measure the effects of the first factor. The variables that are controlled or changed by the experimenter are referred to as ____ variables, and the ones that measure the effects are called ____ variables.

Independent; dependent

A researcher asks junior high school teachers to rate their students based on how aggressive they are. She also asks the students how much they like each of their classmates. She finds a correlation between aggression and popularity, such that kids who are more aggressive are less liked by others and kids who are less aggressive are more liked by others. This correlation between being aggressive and being liked:

Indicates that how well liked a person is can help predict how aggressive he or she is

Which of the following statements holds regarding Milgram's research on obedience?

It has stirred controversy regarding its ethics.

Which of the following was not part of the procedure in Milgram's research on destructive obedience?

Participants playing the role of learners were ordered to give shocks to the teacher who was trying to complete the task.

What is the sole concept that does not increase compliance when using the door-in-the-face technique?

Psychological commitment

Public conformity typically occurs when people

Recognize that social rewards are associated with going along with the consensus and punishments are associated with deviating from the consensus

In Sherif's experiment utilizing the autokinetic light illusion

Research participants converged on a rough consensus of how far a light moved in a dark room

Social psychology differs from other social sciences such as sociology or political science in that social psychology

Seems to understand the social behavior of individuals (as opposed to groups)

According to your text, principles of evolutionary psychology are primarily used to describe and explain why there are behavioral or psychological __________ among people raised in ________ cultures.

Similarities; different

In the tip jar example, a good dependent variable would be

The amount of money she makes in tips

Which of the following is true of Milgram's obedience study?

The experimenter informed participants that he was accountable for any consequences of the participant's actions.

Based on what we've discussed, which of the following changes to a critical trial in the basic (i.e., unanimous confederates and an unambiguous judgement) Asch study would lead to increased conformity relative to the basic version?

The task was made more ambiguous

To say that people are influenced by others because they are responding to informational social influence means that

They are looking to other people in order to help them understand something

An example of responding to normative social influence would be a person who is influenced by other people because

They are trying to avoid being laughed at or yelled at by others

Langer et al. (1978) found that if an experimenter approaches people with a request with no justifiable reason, they often respond

by complying mindlessly

Lowballing uses which of the following concepts to stand as an effective conformity technique?

commitment

The tendency to alter perceptions, opinions, and behavior in ways that are consistent with group norms is called

conformity

Experiments are the best research method for finding causal relationships between variables because they incorporate _____ and _____ into their design.

control conditions; random assignment

When she is asked what she should do when a friend does a favor for her, Marnie says, "I usually don't let anyone do favors for me. I don't like the idea that I would owe them something." Marine would describe people who do favors for her as

creditors

The foot-in-the-door technique takes particular advantage of the

desire to maintain consistent self-perceptions.

According to social impact theory, resistance to social pressure is most likely to occur when social impact is

divided among many strong and distant targets.

According to social impact theory, the source's proximity in time and space to a target determines the source's

immediacy

All of the following reduced the level of obedience in the Milgram experiment except

informing the participants that the experimenter assumed responsibility for the learner's welfare.

A hypothesis ________, whereas a theory ______.

is tested by a specific study; encompasses a body of related research

A person from a collectivist culture is ____ to accept a free sample of food in a supermarket.

less likely than a person from an individualist culture

The technique of getting a commitment from a potential customer and then changing the terms of the agreement is best described as

lowballing

In order to convince people to buy lunch from their restaurant in the food court, employees at the Chinese restaurant gave out free samples of chicken teriyaki to everyone who walks by. The restaurant employees are hoping to take advantage of the

norm of reciprocity

Which of the following terms is referred to as the unspoken rule dictating that we should treat others as they have treated us?

norm of reciprocity

Recall that Sherif (1936) showed participants a point of light in a completely darkened room and asked them to judge the light's movement. The results from this study suggest that people

often change their own judgments in accordance with others' judgments.

Natasha convinces Joel to take her to the airport by first asking him to loan her his car for a week. Her attempt to get Joel to do her a favor is most likely based on the principles of

reciprocal concessions and perceptual contrast.

People who are especially likely to exploit the norm of reciprocity for personal gain can be identified by questionnaires that measure their

reciprocation ideology

Why are social psychologists interested in social media platforms such as Facebook?

social media represents a commonly used space for social interactions

The tendency to unconsciously mimic the nonverbal behavior of others is called

the chameleon effect

Jamie wants an extra day to write a paper for class. Jamie first asks the professor for a one-week extension for the paper assignment. The professor refuses. Jamie then asks for a one-day extension. The professor agrees. Jamie's behavior best illustrates

the door-in-the-face technique

The compliance technique in which compliance to a desired request is increased by first gaining compliance to a smaller, but related, request is called

the foot-in-the-door technique.

While driving down a street in a residential neighborhood, Aaron sees a sign in a yard that says, "Slow down! Jimmy and I like to play in the street!" This is quite a bit different than normal signs that admonish a driver to slow down. Aaron immediately slows his car down to a safe 15 miles per hour, and stays at that speed until the end of the street. What compliance technique was used to get him to slow down?

the pique technique

The Milgram study demonstrated

the potential for situational influences to lead ordinary people to commit extraordinarily destructive acts.

When trying to close a car sale, Jerry often tries to sweeten the deal by telling the customer that he will throw in six free oil changes as well. This sales technique is best described as

the that's-not-all technique.

The naturalistic fallacy refers to the claim that

the way things are is the way they should be

Stan is a new student in his sixth-grade class. The other students exert normative pressure on him to conform to their opinion on some issue. According to social impact theory, Stan will be more likely to resist this influence if

there are three other new students in the class who are receiving the same pressures.

A hypothesis is a statement that specifies

what a theory predicts and should not be observed in a specific circumstance