Social Psychology Unit 1
Jacquie and Karen are both interested in the topic of divorce. Jacquie is a social psychologist and Karen is a sociologist. Compared to Karen, which of the following questions is Jacquie most likely to ask?
Why does infidelity lead to divorce?
The term "construal" refers to
a personal interpretation about situations and other people's behaviors.
The term construal refers to
a personal interpretation about situations and other people's behaviors.
If an experiment produces reliable results, what does this mean?
It is likely to yield consistent results.
In an experiment, the control condition is
compared with the experimental condition.
According to ethical guidelines, research in social psychology should have all of the following components included in a study EXCEPT ____________.
compensation for participation.
Social psychologists differ from personality psychologists because social psychologists tend to
examine how individuals react "on average" in social situations.
Which of the following research methods is the best way to identify a causal relationship between two variables?
experiment
The major difference between social psychology and other social sciences, such as anthropology and political science, is that social psychology relies most heavily on ____________ to derive knowledge about human behavior.
experimental research
The independent variable in an experiment is the variable that is
manipulated and is hypothesized to be the cause of a particular outcome
Schemas are important because they
.
The classic Milgram study showed that about
60 percent of participants delivered a 450-volt shock to the "learner."
Which statement is most consistent with the beliefs of an individualist culture?
Different strokes for different folks.
What is one of the most important differences between correlational and experimental research designs?
Experiments use random assignment.
Which of the following is a fundamental difference between individualist and collectivist cultures?
Independent cultures tend to view relationships with other people as voluntary, whereas collectivists do not.
When an experiment has poor internal validity, which of the following might be of concern?
It might be difficult to determine if the independent variable was what produced the result.
Which of the following is a potential limitation of correlational research?
We can never be sure about causality.
A researcher examines the galvanic skin response (GSR) of people holding a clear plastic jar containing a spider. She compares the GSRs of people with spider phobias with the GSRs of people without spider phobias. In this experiment, the galvanic skin response functions as ____________.
a dependent variable.
A group of social psychologists are working on a research project with the aim of promoting condom use as a way to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. This type of research project is probably best described as
applied science.
Random assignment is an important aspect of experiments because it
cancels out individual differences and reduces selection biases between groups.
A social psychologist finds a relationship between lower socioeconomic status and the likelihood of being divorced. This study most likely describes which type of research method?
correlational
All of the following are examples of resources used in archival research EXCEPT
firsthand observations of behavior.
The mind processes information in two different ways when you encounter a social situation. Automatic processing is often based on _________________, whereas controlled processing is often based on ____________.
emotional factors; careful thought.
If a social psychology experiment is conducted that has very little relation to real life experience, then this experiment would be said to be low in ____________.
external validity
If a social psychology experiment is conducted that has very little relation to real-life experience or situations, then this experiment would be said to be low in ____________.
external validity
An experiment that is set in the real world, and in which the participants themselves are usually unaware that they are participating in a research study, is usually described as a ____________.
field experiment.
While boarding a plane, Doug feels fear when he notices another passenger sitting in his seat looking agitated and sweating profusely. In this situation,
his emotional reaction probably occurs before careful, systematic thought takes over.
A person volunteers to participate in an experiment but is not told anything about what the experiment involved until after it was finished. The failure to inform this person about the experiment violates which ethical principle in research?
informed consent
The problem with self-selection in research is that
it makes causal interpretations difficult.
Social psychology can be defined as the ____________ study of the ____________ of individuals in social situations.
scientific; feelings, thoughts, and behaviors
Which of the following is LEAST characteristic of the goals of social psychology?
understanding how personality traits predispose people to respond to social situations
Societies may differ from each other in many ways, but it is important to recognize that
there are still regional and subcultural differences within any large society.
According to social psychologists, which of the following conditions is most likely to make someone do what an authority figure says to do—even if it involves hurting someone?
when people can blame an authority figure for their actions
