Social Psych Exam 1 Model Questions
LaShawna meets another girl at a party who is not from LaShawna's ethnic group, and whom LaShawna judges, based on her stereotype of that group, is probably shallow and a gossip. The best description of LaShawna's judgment is that she is engaged in ________. a)a social cognitive process b)cultural norming c)prejudice d)developmental processes
ANS: a
Many times, attempts at deception are thwarted because of ________ facial expressions. a)irrepressible b)basic channel c)stereotypical d)irrelevant
ANS: a
Maria is driving her children to school. She is watching the road carefully and following a series of detour signs. One of her children in the back seat of the car is telling her a story, and on the radio a weather report is playing. Maria is trying to listen to her child's story, but she finds that she is unable to concentrate on what the child is saying. Maria is experiencing a)information overload. b)conditions of uncertainty c)a representativeness heuristic. d)anchoring adjustment.
ANS: a
Matt has never been to a professional baseball game, but he has a strong conviction that he wouldn't enjoy going to one. This prediction is known as a(n) ________. a)affective forecast b)mood congruence c)mood dependency d)interplay
ANS: a
Molly and Emily are members of a girls' basketball team who are responsible for helping to organize fundraising efforts for their team. Molly is extremely motivated to complete this task; in contrast, Emily only shows a mild interest in completing the required task. Which of the following statements BEST summarizes the likelihood that Molly and Emily will complete their tasks? a) Molly's motivation will likely cause her to predict that she will finish her task quickly; however, this will have no effect on whether she actually completes her task quicker than Emily. b)Molly will definitely complete the task in a prompt manner due to her high level of motivation; Emily might not complete the task at all due to her lack of motivation. c) Molly's level of motivation should not have any effect on how she thinks about proceeding with this task; consequently, Molly and Emily should complete the task at about the same time. d) Molly's motivation will probably cause her to become overly optimistic which, in turn, will cause her to not complete the task at all; Emily's lack of motivation will likely cause her to complete the task, surprising even herself.
ANS: a
One evening, after seeing a ________ at the Cineplex, you are on your way home. You drive into a store parking lot, where another driver grabs a parking place you had spotted and were waiting for. You perceive the behavior as very ________. a)violent movie; aggressive b) comedy; aggressive c) drama; meaningless d) violent movie; funny
ANS: a
One way to manage information overload is to make use of ________. a)mental shortcuts, such as heuristics b)the anchoring and adjustment stratagem c)automatic priming d)the complexity schema
ANS: a
People often forecast that they will feel ________ when reading about a large-scale tragedy compared to a smaller tragedy. However, findings indicate that people who actually read about such tragedies ________. a) worse; feel the same regardless of the size of the tragedy b) more overwhelmed; felt worse about the smaller tragedy c) less concerned; feel the same regardless of the size of the tragedy d) helpless; felt more empathy for the smaller tragedy's victims
ANS: a
Rafael is concerned with the idea of inherent morality and wants to research ethical indicators present in toddlers and babies. He knows that many other social psychologists have also been concerned with this topic, so Rafael focuses on analyzing previously published research on this topic in order to find repeating patterns among results and also to see if there are any gaps in the body of research. Rafael is focused on ________. a)the survey method b)theory c)mediating variables d)a meta-analysis
ANS: a
Shortly before being interviewed for a job she really wants, Meredith finds that the human resources director was involved in a minor traffic accident during lunch. Should Meredith be concerned that the traffic accident may have a negative influence on the outcomes of the job interview? a)Yes, research indicates that even experienced interviewers are influenced by their current moods. b)No, other factors, such as the strength of the applicants who have already been interviewed will strongly outweigh any lingering effect of the director's mood. c)Yes, but only if Meredith mentions the accident in a way that accentuates the director's presumed bad mood. d)No, research indicates that experienced interviewers are not influenced by accident-related current moods.
ANS: a
Social psychologists focus their attention mainly on individuals because ________. a) our actions are performed by and thoughts occur in the minds of individuals b) the behavior of groups is too difficult to study in laboratory conditions c)cultural differences have a strong effect on the behavior of groups but only a weak effect on individuals d)some individuals are more strongly affected by society than are others
ANS: a
Suppose a company asked its workers "Now that you have received a raise, how satisfied are you with your job?" and found out that 87% indicated they were "very satisfied" or "satisfied." A major concern of this study would likely be the ________. a)way the question was asked b)way the participants were selected c)way the jobs were described d)amount of the raise
ANS: a
The moon is full, and Cristinel has been behaving wildly. Although sober, he's been alternately barking like a dog at strangers on the street and/or asking them, "aren't ya' just happy now?" According to your text, Cristinel's behavior could be due to ________. a)the moon as an environmental influence b)an undiagnosed mental illness c)a cultural norm imported from his Transylvanian homeland d)a good grade on his midterm paper
ANS: a
Which core value for social psychologists requires a commitment to gathering and evaluating information about the world in as careful, precise, and error-free a manner as possible? a)Accuracy b)Objectivity c)Skepticism d)Open-mindedness
ANS: a
Which of the following categories is NOT one of the five categories mentioned in the text regarding factors affecting social interaction? a)Perceptual processes b)Cognitive processes c)Environmental variables d)Biological factors
ANS: a
Which of the following individuals is exhibiting behaviors or thoughts consistent with priming? a)After finishing a romantic novel, Natalie passionately embraces her boyfriend and tells him how much she loves him. b)After watching a horror film, Jane comments on the fact that she did not find the film to be scary at all. c)Hector, a medical school student, realizes that his sore throat is probably the sign of a mild cold and not a serious illness. d)George, a business student, decides that the fastest way for him to become wealthy is to start his own business while still a student.
ANS: a
Which of the following is a safeguard that most social psychologists agree must be in place in order to use temporary deception? a)informed consent b)briefing c)Institutional Review Board d)naturalistic observation
ANS: a
Which of the following is an example of controlled processing? a)Learning to ride a bike b)Walking down your street c)Breathing while sleeping d)Blinking your eyes
ANS: a
Yelena is researching the effect of volume on people's social interactions. She invites participants to play a card game that requires the cooperation of members of a group. There is music playing in the background. With each game, she adjusts the volume of the music. She keeps the lighting, the number of participants, and the length of the games the same. The volume of the music is the ________. a)independent variable b)experimental constant c)dependent variable d)random assignment
ANS: a
Zoë is in a fairly good mood. Consequently, we should expect her to show a(n) ________ in her use of ________. a) increase; heuristics b) increase; effortful cognitive processing c) decrease; thought suppression d) decrease; heuristics
ANS: a
A researcher is interested in the relationship between 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 ________. a)less attractive people date more often than more attractive people b)more attractive people date more often than less attractive people c)there is no relationship between dating frequency and attractiveness d)more attractive people tend to date less attractive people
ANS: b
A researcher wants to know whether writing an essay on a controversial topic will have an effect on the attitudes held by people. First, she administers an attitude survey that covers a number of topics, including electronic voting machines. She then randomly assigns subjects to write an essay either supporting or opposing electronic voting machines. One week later, she administers the same attitude survey and compares those responses to the responses from the first time the survey was administered. In this experiment, the independent variable (IV) is the ________. a)attitude survey b)essay c)controversial topic d)students' attitudes
ANS: b
Arlene walks into the room her husband has just painted. She immediately dislikes the color. Arlene has experienced ________. a)a controlled evaluative reaction b)an automatic evaluative reaction c)an evaluative reaction schema d)controlled priming
ANS: b
Elaine is researching how insults influence activity in certain parts of the brain. To do this, she uses fMRI to view the brain activity of patients who are presented with a variety of subtle and obvious insults spoken by both men and women. Which of the following best describes Elaine's field? a)Cognitive psychology b)Social neuroscience c)Evolutionary neuroscience d)Biological psychology
ANS: b
If you would like for your student government to pass a bill putting more lights along major walkways, how could you use ease of retrieval to persuade them? a)Ask them to generate 10 instances in which the lack of lighting led to student harm. b)Ask them to think of 2 instances in which the lack of lighting made them or someone they know feel fearful while walking on campus after dark. c)Have them generate 6 newspaper stories in which students were harmed on campus at night. d)Give them one instance in which someone was afraid walking home at night, but include many details.
ANS: b
In addition to social cognition and behavioral approaches, research on ______ has helped social psychologists develop a greater understanding of how people form impressions, choose to help others, and even comply with requests. a)animals b)emotions c)evolution d)thinking
ANS: b
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. a)mystery shopper b)survey c)naturalistic observation d)field experimental
ANS: b
Jonathan continues to buy Orange computers even though his colleagues and friends have informed him that there are newer, better, and cheaper types of computers on the market. Which heuristic is affecting Jonathan? a)representativeness b)status quo c)uncertainty d)anchoring and adjustment
ANS: b
Juanita finds that she has been given too much information about different new cars and their relative merits and drawbacks. She is having a difficult time making a decision about which car to buy because she cannot process all the information she has gathered. This is an example of ________. a)non-automatic processing b)information overload c)anchoring and adjustment d)the representativeness heuristic
ANS: b
Karen has always felt that if she looks at the back of a person's head, she can cause that person to turn around and look at her. This is an example of ________ thinking. a)counterfactual b)magical c)optimist d)rational
ANS: b
On the walk to work yesterday, Randall was nearly run over by a bus. While the bus barely touched him, he was knocked off his feet and suffered many bruises and a concussion. Randall hasn't considered himself to be religious in many years, but after the accident he felt an increased sense of religiously and spirituality. Randall's increased religiosity is a form of ________. a)overconfidence bias b)terror management c)rational thinking d)counterfactual bias
ANS: b
Paul is researching the prevalence of sexist or demeaning language aimed at women and its use across different neighborhoods. To do this, he spends an hour in different neighborhoods and covertly follows his research assistant as she walks down the sidewalk 10 feet ahead of him. When sexist or demeaning language is used, Paul fastidiously records it in his notebook. What technique is Paul using to come to his conclusions? a)Cognitive observation b)Naturalistic observation c)Controlled observation d)Loose observation
ANS: b
Professor Garcia is studying how cancer patients are coping with their illness by giving them one of the following sets of instructions: they are to keep a daily diary and write about anything, keep a daily diary and write about how they are trying to cope with their illness, or not told to keep any diary whatsoever. After following this protocol for a month, Professor Garcia then measures the cancer patients' self-reported level of depression. The independent variable in this hypothetical study is ________ and the dependent variable is ________. a) the type of diary kept, if any; the progression of the cancer b) the type of diary kept, if any; the self-reported level of depression c) the self-reported level of depression; the type of diary kept, if any the cancer patients; the self-reported level of depression
ANS: b
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 ________. a)financial aid such as scholarships and student loans does not take the place of having strong financial backing from one's family during the college years b)students born into wealthier families are more likely to complete college than students born into poorer families c)students from wealthier families are more likely to have attended college preparatory schools d)students from poorer families have a more difficult time adjusting to college life
ANS: b
Research of adult populations has documented a negative correlation between 1) obesity and 2) participation in physically demanding leisure activities. One possible interpretation of these results is that ________. a)a lack of exercise is a primary cause of obesity b)obese people tend to exercise less than non-obese people c)obese people prefer mental challenges to physical ones d)some people are obese regardless of how much exercise they get
ANS: b
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 Group 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 could hear screams from another room. Members of Group 2 were likewise 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 that ________. a)brief periods of darkness will cause negative emotions b)strong negative emotions will increase people's need to affiliate with others c)people's need to affiliate will cause people to start more conversations d)members of small groups will affiliate with each other quickly
ANS: b
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 ________. a)people with lower status jobs tend to wear the same clothing both on and off the job b)there is no relationship between the types of clothing worn in non-work settings and the type of work that people do c)people with higher status jobs tend to dress worse when they are not at work d)people with higher status jobs tend to dress better on and off the job
ANS: b
Sarah recently went to a party even though she was in a very poor mood. At the party, she met a man named Alan, an architect from San Diego. In one month's time, Sarah will more easily remember these details if she ________. a)has spoken to Alan again during this month b)tries to recall them while in a negative mood c)tries to recall them while in a positive mood d)is at another party and is in a positive mood
ANS: b
Sasha is a Ph.D. candidate in social psychology. She is researching the role that a good sense of humor plays in securing a mate and is planning on honing this research into a dissertation that focuses on humor's influence on reproductive success. Sasha is engaged in the study of ________. a)replicability. b)evolutionary psychology c)environmental variables d)gender differences
ANS: b
Tracy encounters a member of a certain political group whose views and attributes are inconsistent with her schemas about that group. Due to a strong perseverance effect, what is the MOST likely conclusion that Tracy will make? a)Tracy will completely change her schema about the group. b)Tracy will continue to believe that most members of that group fit her schemas. c)Tracy will decide the member is lying about her political affiliation. d)Tracy will suppress conscious awareness of this conflicting information, but it will exert an influence on her behavior without her awareness.
ANS: b
When research results are not consistent with a theory, the researcher's next step usually involves ________. a)replacing the theory with a different one b)modifying the theory and collecting additional data c)modifying the results to be consistent with the theory d)shifting to a different paradigm
ANS: b
Which of the following describes the modern view of social psychology? a)Behavior and thought are distinct entities. b)Behavior and thought are intimately and continuously linked. c)Behavior and thought have slight overlap. d)Behavior and thought are the same thing.
ANS: b
Which of the following is a downside of schemas? a)They can cause us to process social information at a slower rate. b)They can remain unchanged in the face of contradictory information. c)They are unable to guide our thoughts or actions. d)They cause social information to be disorganized in our brain.
ANS: b
Which process of social cognition refers to the information we notice? a)Encoding b)Attention c)Retrieval d)Cognitive load
ANS: b
Which type of variable intervenes between an independent variable and changes in social behavior? a)dependent b)mediating c)conditional d)experimental
ANS: b
A researcher worked with members of a political action committee (PAC) 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? a)One question was "Do you plan to vote for Candidate A or Candidate B?" b)The survey was scheduled to coincide with a large rally for one candidate. c)All of these may present problems for the accuracy of the results. d)The sample of potential voters was taken from telephone directories only.
ANS: c
Arnold is a social psychologist interested in learning about people's reactions to emergencies. He creates an experiment where his research assistant, Todd, pretends to have a heart attack in the middle of a busy coffee shop. From behind a one-way glass, Arnold observes and records the reactions of the customers in the coffee shop before emerging and explaining the nature of the experiment. Arnold has used ________. a)misleading information b)informed consent c)deception d)passive consent
ANS: c
Bob and Joe are given the task of dividing $10 between them. Bob initially makes an offer to divide the money such that he takes $7 for himself and gives Joe $3. If you were looking at an MRI scan of Joe's brain, what would you see? a)No activity in the limbic system as this is clearly a rational task. b)Activity in the limbic system, but little activity anywhere else. c)Activity in both the limbic system and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex because both emotion and rationality are involved. d)Bob's MRI scan would be more informative than Joe's to understand how Joe will react.
ANS: c
Carla has just run a series of experiments involving college students as participants. The experiments were all conducted in a controlled environment on campus. Carla is now interested in whether her findings would apply to both younger and older people in neighborhoods and towns outside of the college. Carla is concerned with ________. a)random assignment b)dependent variables c)external validity d)experimental methods
ANS: c
Eric is a social psychologist who is respected in his field. However, his colleagues are often apprehensive of challenging Eric's strongly held ideas, even when they know that Eric's ideas are laden with errors, because Eric has been known to get upset when he has to question his assumptions. Eric struggles with maintaining the core value of a)skepticism. b)objectivity. c)open-mindedness. d)accuracy.
ANS: c
Generally, deception used in an experiment is usually mild and is known as ________ deception. a)active b)soft c)passive d)marginal
ANS: c
Greg has just stopped his car to allow a funeral procession to pass by. The cars in the procession all have stickers from his alma mater and are similar to the car he is driving. At this point, he realizes that he too will certainly die at some point. Based on the concept of terror management, which of the following is Greg likely to do next? a)Buy funeral insurance. b)Commit suicide. c)Reconfirm his belief in supernatural powers. d)Become an atheist.
ANS: c
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 separate 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 the ________. a)presence or absence of the researchers will affect productivity b)number of components produced will not change because of lighting c)level of lighting will affect employee productivity d)employees chosen to participate in the research will affect productivity
ANS: c
In one study, participants were presented with words that were either consistent or inconsistent with their strongly held values. Participants showed quite strong reactions to the value inconsistent words. This suggests that we process information we ________. a)agree with quite slowly b)disagree with slowly but thoroughly c)disagree with quickly d)agree with quickly
ANS: c
Norman chronically buys and sells things on eBay. He is used to establishing an anchor in negotiating his way toward some endpoint, a sales price, an agreement about delivery time, shipping costs, etc. The anchor for him is almost always a way of dealing with ________. a)others' likely business judgments b)knowing what the item likely sells for elsewhere c)uncertainty d)frequent ups and downs in the market price
ANS: c
Once it is activated, the status quo heuristic may have automatic effects on behavior. This can cause individuals to ________. a)develop information overload and a temporarily diminished cognitive capacity b)behave inconsistently with the schema without realizing the stress this puts on their mental frameworks c)behave consistently with the schema without being aware of the reason for the behavior d)notice information that is inconsistent with the schema more readily than consistent information
ANS: c
Renata created an experiment to observe how temperature affects social interactions. However, she did not state this purpose to participants. In fact, participants, all graduate students, were under the assumption that they were attending a campus-sponsored food and drink social gathering. Over the course of two hours, Renata drastically changed the room's temperature every 10 minutes and recorded information on how participants behaved. At the end of the two hours, Renata emerged and discussed the full nature of the experiment with the participants, including the deception she employed and why she needed to do so. At the end of the experiment, Renata employed the tactic of ________. a)informed consent b)systematic observation c)debriefing d)passive deception
ANS: c
Research indicates that there are two distinct systems that interact in complex ways during cognitive processes. The two systems are those involving ________. a)retrieval and production b)rationality and magical thinking c)reason and emotion d)congruence and dependency
ANS: c
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 Group 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 could hear screams from another room. Members of Group 2 were likewise 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. Researchers assigned participants to one of the two groups randomly because ________. a)random assignment makes sure that unknown characteristics of research participants may cause differences in the dependent variable across the three groups b)random assignment is the easiest, most cost effective way of assigning group membership to participants c)random assignment ensures that any changes in the dependent variable are caused only by changes in the independent variable d)random assignment ensures that no group member knows any other group members before the experiment begins
ANS: c
Sarah supervises a work group of six colleagues in an advertising agency. Recently, the creativity of her work group has not been as high as it should be. To help boost the group's creativity, and keeping in mind the effects of mood on cognition, Sarah might ________. a)speak to each member privately about performance issues b)ask the group to remember what they were doing the last time they were highly creative c)take steps to put her group's members in a happier mood during work hours d)remind the group that creativity is an important aspect of their job
ANS: c
Suppose smoking and drinking alcohol are found to be correlated at +.65. We can conclude that ________. a)smoking causes drinking b)drinking causes smoking c)smoking is probably related to drinking d)people who smoke tend to drink less than non-smokers
ANS: c
Suppose you are telling your friend about a woman you just met. You tell your friend that this person seemed very compassionate and was interested in helping others; however, you couldn't recall whether she said she was a nurse or a businesswoman. On the basis of the ________ heuristic, your friend would probably think that she is a ________. a) availability; nurse b) availability; businesswoman c) representativeness; nurse d) representativeness; businesswoman
ANS: c
The tendency for one event to be associated with changes in another event is known as ________. a)prediction b)causation c)correlation d)variation
ANS: c
Two drivers on a highway are cut off by a third driver. The first driver is startled but shrugs, thinking, "that other driver was careless, but I don't think he noticed me." The second driver is furious, thinking, "that other driver deliberately tried to run me off the road." This scenario MOST clearly illustrates how________. a)mood influences affect and arousal b)affect influences arousal c)cognition influences affect d)affect influences cognition
ANS: c
When people deal with uncertainty in a situation by using something they know as a starting point and then modifying their thinking from there, they are using the ________ heuristic. a)representativeness b)status quo c)anchoring and adjustment d)information overload
ANS: c
Which of the following best explains the difference between a theory and a hypothesis? a)A theory consists of published findings, whereas a hypothesis makes predictions about observable events. b)A theory tests predictions about observable events, whereas a hypothesis consists of published findings. c)A theory makes predictions about observable events, whereas a hypothesis tests predictions made. d)A theory is made without knowledge of prior research, whereas a hypothesis takes prior research into account.
ANS: c
Which of the following effects describe how moods strongly determine which information in a given situation is noticed and entered into one's memory? a)affective forecasts effect b)mood-dependent memory effect c)mood congruence effect d)retrieval cue effect
ANS: c
Which of the following is a benefit of automatic processing? a)It allows us to approach decisions in a systematic and logical way. b)It allows us to dedicate our full attention to a problem at hand. c)It allows us to deal with problems when our attention is directed elsewhere. d)It allows us to weigh all relevant aspects of a situation before taking action.
ANS: c
A researcher wants to know whether writing an essay on a controversial topic will have an effect on the attitudes held by people. First, she administers an attitude survey that covers a number of topics, including electronic voting machines. She then randomly assigns subjects to write an essay either supporting or opposing the use of electronic voting machines. One week later, she administers the same attitude survey and compares those responses to the responses from the first time the survey was administered. In this experiment, the dependent variable (DV) is ________. a)electronic voting machines b)the essay c)the controversial topic d)the attitude survey
ANS: d
Andrew saw a TV commercial for a new video game that he had been wanting. The game was on sale for 50% off, but the store was set to close in two hours. Andrew was 15 minutes late getting to the store and missed the sale. To ease his distress about missing the sale, Andrew reasoned that he never really had a chance to get to the store before it closed because traffic was too heavy, even though he could have taken a different, quicker route. This is an example of ________. a)affective shifting b)contra-affective cognition c)affective heuristics d)counterfactual thinking
ANS: d
Based on his estimate of how long it would take him to complete his midterm essay, Armando told his instructor he would turn in the paper on Tuesday, but he 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 ________. a)more carefully examine how to go about doing the paper on time b)base his estimate on an outline of the paper c)make arrangements to work away from his noisy roommates d)make the same planning error and be late again
ANS: d
During finals week, Jonah tells his friend that he'll be able to write four term papers over the next few days. Jonah is shocked and upset when he is barely able to complete two of these four papers. Jonah's behavior is consistent with ________. a)counterfactual thinking b)the pessimistic bias c)the negativity bias d)the planning fallacy
ANS: d
Eric knows that plane crashes are extremely rare and statistically unlikely. However, he avoids flying and instead drives everywhere, even though he knows the likelihood of being injured in a car accident is far more likely than in a plane accident. Eric is being affected by the ________ heuristic. a)anchoring and adjustment b)representativeness c)status quo d)availability
ANS: d
Heuristics exert a strong influence on our thinking in large measure because they ________. a)rely on our internal personal biases and unknown prejudices b)are effortful processes that require an expenditure of mental energy c)activate critical brain structures such as the amygdala d)reduce the mental effort needed to make judgments and decisions
ANS: d
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 separate 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 dependent variable is the ________. a)employees chosen to participate in the experiment b)presence or absence of the researchers c)level of lighting d)number of components produced
ANS: d
In thinking about a major assignment that is due in one week, Jacey focuses on the tasks to be accomplished and how she thinks she will approach each task. She does not spend much time thinking about how long similar tasks have taken her in the past. As a result, Jacey is likely to underestimate the amount of time needed for the assignment. This is probably because Jacey has ________. a)fallen prey to the negativity bias b)activated an inappropriate schema c)entered a planning or narrative mode of thought d)never attempted a similar type of assignment in the past
ANS: d
Jordan recently won third place in his city's creative writing contest, even though he hasn't written creatively in years and he submitted a story he wrote years ago. He thinks to himself, "If only I had been working on my writing this whole time, I might have won first place." This is an example of ________ thinking. a)magical b)optimist c)overconfident d)counterfactual
ANS: d
One reason that social scientists put their faith in the scientific method is that the scientific method ________. a)produces incontrovertible proof of the accuracy of their theories b)assures acceptance of their conclusions by the general public c)allows scientists to rely on their own intuition d)produces more conclusive evidence than other methods
ANS: d
Results of systematic research indicate that our impression of a person whom we just met is influenced by ________. a)our genes b)the setting c)the weather d)our mood
ANS: d
Sabiha is left-handed and prefers left-handed men. She is going to be introduced to Wilbur. Left-handers comprise about 10 percent of the population. She has been truthfully informed that Wilbur is either a left-handed Chinese psycholinguist or a left-handed used car salesman from the Midwestern region of the United States. If Sabiha makes good use of base rates, which of the following outcomes should she expect? a)Wilbur is a left-handed Chinese psycholinguist. b)Wilbur is a new car salesman from the Midwestern region of the United States. c)She has been misinformed about Wilbur's existence as a crude statistical prank. d)Wilbur is a used car salesman from the Midwestern region of the United States who also happens to be left-handed.
ANS: d
Sue is conducting an experiment in which she is trying to determine the influence of staring at a speaker on how much different speakers stutter. Sue sends people to a speech class with instructions to stare for varied amounts of time at the speaker. The dependent variable is the ________. a)people doing the staring b)amount of time that the people stare c)the speech class d)amount of stuttering that occurs
ANS: d
The evolutionary perspective on social behavior suggests that ________. a)we are driven by our genes to act in specific ways b)much of our behavior is biologically determined and cannot be consciously known c)we inherit specific patterns of social behavior d)we inherit tendencies or predispositions to behave in certain ways
ANS: d
The fact that we can make judgments and evaluations about different aspects of the world in either a controlled, reflective way or an automatic way suggests ________. a)we have several different evaluative systems that operate relatively independently of each other and generally address different aspects of the world b)we have only one system for evaluating the social world, but this system can be controlled or operated in two different ways c)our reasoning abilities can overcome most of our automatic processes if we pay attention to the judgments we are making at any particular time d)we have two systems for evaluating the social world which may be located in different areas of the brain
ANS: d
Which of the following contrasts controlled processing and automatic processing? a)Controlled processing occurs very quickly, whereas automatic processing occurs at a much slower rate. b)Controlled processing is largely intuitive, whereas automatic processing is largely logical. c)Controlled processing occurs in the amygdala, whereas automatic processing occurs in the prefrontal cortex. d)Controlled processing is systematic and effortful, whereas automatic processing is fast and relatively effortless.
ANS: d
Which of the following study questions could absolutely NOT be explored using experimentation due to ethical reasons? a)Does the time of day influence our appetite for chocolate? b)How does failing at a certain task affect our self-image? c)How effective are political ads in terms of influencing voters? d)How do individuals cope when their spouse dies?
ANS: d
"Seeing the world through rose-colored glasses" refers to the ________ bias. a)optimistic b)overconfidence c)magical thinking d)counterfactual
ANS: a
A multicultural perspective is recognized as increasingly important to research in social psychology because ________. a)a variety of cultural factors such as race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability help determine self-identity b)some cultural factors may be important, but these factors have not yet been identified c)cultural factors are only important in some areas of research, such as research dealing with facial recognition d)cultural factors have a weak influence on social behavior
ANS: a
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 where they are first given a difficult test and then either heavily praised or strongly criticized for their test performance. Afterward, 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 hypothesis is ________. a)a person's mood has an effect on how helpful that person is likely to be b)praise will improve the mood of research subjects and criticism will worsen their mood c)helping the researcher's assistant will change a participant's mood d)some participants will be in a better mood than others
ANS: a
Amanda has lost some money she needs for next semester's tuition. While betting on red, the roulette wheel has come up with five blacks in a row. To try to get her money back, Amanda is now doubling up her bet each time on red, believing that red will come up soon. She bases her belief on the (roughly) 50/50 odds of red and black occurring over a large number of spins of the wheel. Amanda's strategy appears to be based on ________. a)the representativeness heuristic b)the advice of a successful gambler c)a magical thinking perspective d)the availability heuristic
ANS: a
Bill's wife informs him that they will be attending the opera. Bill has never been to the opera, but he immediately has a mental image of he and his wife sitting in an ornate theater and wearing formal eveningwear. Bill is drawing up a(n) ________. a)schema b)heuristic c)anchor d)cognitive load
ANS: a
Blair watches the newscast each evening, with its usual diet of fires and other accidents. She often eats at Herby's Fried Snacks, a restaurant located in a brick building, despite the fact that her eating there has resulted in bad indigestion several times. She avoids the well-respected Korean restaurant because the Korean restaurant is in a wooden building. Blair's eating habits are probably being guided by ________. a)the availability heuristic b)an anti-Korean prejudice c)the anchoring and adjustment heuristic d)an addiction to fried snacks
ANS: a
Carl watches a documentary about a man who survived after being stranded on an island. Not long after, his wife asks him if he wants to go hiking or go to the library. Carl chooses hiking. This is an example of ________. a)priming b)anchoring c)unpriming d)adjusting
ANS: a
Five students are preparing to take a mid-term exam in Political Science. Going in to the exam, who would be most likely to suffer from the overconfidence barrier? a)This is Ronald's first political science course and first semester of college. b)Greg is a junior and a political science major. c)Linda is a straight "A" student who is in her 7th year of college. d)Michele is a sophomore who hasn't missed a class and thinks the professor is interesting.
ANS: a
Frameworks for explaining various events or processes are known as ________. a)theories b)hypotheses c)experiments d)variables
ANS: a
Gabriel and Jim were involved in a car accident and they both suffered a broken bone. Gabriel told Jim, "Hey, at least we only broke a few bones—we could've died!" Jim's response to Gabriel was, "Yes, but I'm now thinking about how I can be a better driver so that I never get in an accident again." Gabriel's statement reflects a(n) ________ counterfactual thought and Jim's response reflects a(n) ________ counterfactual thought. a) downward; upward b) upward; downward c) upward; upward d) downward; downward
ANS: a
Jack recently had a job interview that seemed to go exceedingly well by all objective standards. However, Jack noted that his interviewer seemed to be in a bad mood that day. To what extent should Jack be concerned about the latter piece of information? a)He should be aware that he will likely be viewed less favorably by the interviewer than if the interviewer was in a good mood. b)He should be very concerned about the interviewer's bad mood unless something happened immediately after the interview to improve the interviewer's mood. c)He should assume there is virtually no chance he will be offered the position due to the interviewer's negative mood. d)He should not be concerned at all because the interviewer's mood should have no bearing on how he or she evaluates Jack.
ANS: a
Jason is undergoing treatment for depression. His therapist has encouraged Jason to remember as many details as possible about times when Jason was not feeling depressed. Jason is having difficulties remembering a time when he was not depressed. This is probably because of the effects of ________. a)mood-dependent memories b)information-evoked memories c)inappropriate retrieval cues d)depression suppressing pleasant memories
ANS: a
Jim is 28, single, and a freelance writer who works from his apartment. Throughout high school, college, and graduate school, Jim felt happy and engaged with life, but he has recently felt more and more unhappy and detached. According to social psychology research, what short-term solution should Jim take to improve his happiness? a)He should join one or more groups. b)He should work more hours. c)He should try to find someone to marry. d)He should get more sleep at night.
ANS: a
Kim knows she needs to go take summer courses, but worries about leaving her new boyfriend for three months. She wonders, will "absence make the heart go stronger" be true, or is "out of sight, out of mind" more applicable? This is an example of ________. a)the unscientific nature of conventional wisdom b)confusion regarding an interpersonal problem c)the seductive nature of jealousy d)the need for female advice
ANS: a
Thom's mental state is very affected by the weather. During the summer, he readily admits that he feels happier and more carefree. During the winter, when it is cold and gets darker earlier, Thom feels irritable and occasionally depressed. Thom's thoughts and behavior are impacted by ________. a)environmental variables b)social variables c)epigenetic variables d)cognitive processes.
ANS: a