Social Psych Unit 1 Exam

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.

Random assignment is an important aspect of experiments because it

cancels out individual differences and reduces selection biases between groups.

In an experiment, the control condition is

compared with the experimental condition

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

Which of the following research methods is the best way to identify a causal relationship between two variables?

experiment

What is one of the most important differences between correlational and experimental research designs?

experiments use random assignment

The independent variable in an experiment is the variable that is

manipulated and is hypothesized to be the cause of a particular outcome.

The classic Milgram study showed that about

60 percent of participants delivered a 450-volt shock to the "learner."

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

Schemas are important because they

all the above are true are elaborate stores of systematized knowledge guide our expecations for a wide range of situations influence our judgements

All of the following are examples of resources used in archival research EXCEPT

firsthand observations of behavior

Which statement is most consistent with the beliefs of an individualist culture?

different strokes for different folks

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 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

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.

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.

Which of the following is a potential limitation of correlational research?

we can never be sure about causality.

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