Social Psychology Rewind

Stanley Milgram's experiment in which a "teacher" gave shocks to a "learner" was designed to test the limits of

c. obedience

Karen smokes two packs of cigarettes a day. However, she is aware that smoking is harmful to her health; therefore, she holds two conflicting or dissonant thoughts. If Karen were to reduce her cognitive dissonance by changing her attitude, she might say to herself,

a. "smoking really isn't that dangerous"

__________ is best known for his research on conformity

a. Asch

Which of the following statements concerning "jigsaw" classrooms is TRUE?

a. Jigsaw groups emphasize cooperation over competition

Which is TRUE regarding choosing a mate?

a. People who marry are highly similar in age, education, race, religion, and ethnic background

In North America, male friendships are __________ based and female friendships are __________ .

a. activity; based on sharing feelings

Studies of conformity indicate that people are more apt to be influenced by others if they

a. are concerned about the approval of others

When a person with little or no authority makes a direct request to another person, the situation involves

a. compliance

The __________ hypothesis states that frustration tends to lead to aggression.

a. frustration-aggression

Physical proximity increases attraction because it

a. increases frequency of contact

Creation of superordinate goals has been shown to be effective in reducing

a. intergroup conflict

When we perform well, we typically attribute our success to __________.

a. internal characteristics

The three techniques used for brainwashing identified by McConnell are

a. isolation, dependency, and reward

As part of an experiment, two young women stroll down a busy sidewalk with their arms around each other. They get a variety of reactions from passersby, including disapproving looks and comments. These reactions demonstrate the existence of

a. norms

When making the "attribution error," we tend to overestimate the importance of __________ in judging the behavior of others.

a. personal factors

Zimbardo interpreted the results of his simulated prison study as an indication of the

a. powerful influence of roles on people

Negative attitudes that are tinged with fear, hatred, or suspicion is a definition of

a. prejudice

Social traps can be dismantled by changing

a. rewards and costs

Expected behavior patterns associated with particular social positions are called

a. roles

Shows such as Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and Sesame Street demonstrate TV's ability to

a. teach prosocial behavior

Someone asks you to bring dip to a party and you agree. Later the person asks you to also bring popcorn, chips, and sodas. The person has used which compliance strategy?

a. the low-ball technique

In general, helping behavior in emergency situations is discouraged by

a. the presence of a large number of persons

Arabs are typically depicted in the media as oil-rich but ignorant and savage. In a time of war with an Arab country, this image would be used

a. to make it easier for soldiers to kill the enemy

According to evolutionary psychologists,

a. women tend to be concerned with whether mates will devote time and resources to a relationship

People's invisible "spatial envelope" defines their __________, and extends "I" or "me" boundaries past the skin.

b. personal space

According to Janis, John F. Kennedy's Bay of Pigs failure was caused in large part by

b. Groupthink

Frustration probably encourages aggression because it

b. raises arousal levels and sensitivity to cues for aggression

An individual's misuse of valuable natural resources could be an example of

b. a social trap

If everyone leaves five minutes before the game is over to avoid a traffic jam, the resulting traffic jam would be an example of

b. a social trap

Those roles which one attains voluntarily are called

b. achieved roles

Vanessa is female, a daughter, and a young adult. The roles that shape her behavior are called __________ roles.

b. ascribed

__________ is the process of making inferences about behavior.

b. attribution

Attribution theory concerns our tendency to explain our behavior and that of others

b. by inferring causes on the basis of internal or external factors

In an experiment in which a "student" simulated a seizure, helping was inhibited by

b. diffusion of responsibility

Which of the following was a factor in determining the degree of obedience in Milgram's series of experiments?

b. distance between the teacher and the learner

Comparing yourself with a person who ranks lower than you is referred to as

b. downward comparison

Nell tastes her food, then salts it. You assume that the food needed salt, therefore, you attribute her actions to a(n)

b. external cause

The person who agrees to a small request initially is more likely later to comply with a larger demand. This describes the

b. foot-in-the-door effect

There is a strong relationship between dating frequency and physical attractiveness

b. for females

During the Stanford Prison study,

b. guards readily assumed their roles as agents of force

Alcohol

b. lowers the threshold for aggression

According to evolutionary psychologists,

b. men place more emphasis on physical attractiveness

Subjects in Milgram's experiment who gave large shocks rationalized that they were NOT personally responsible for their actions. This raises questions about our willingness to commit inhumane acts as a result of

b. obedience to a legitimate authority

Which theory holds that a relationship must be profitable to endure?

b. social exchange theory

How individuals are affected by the presence of others is the focus of study in the field of

b. social psychology

The organization of roles, patterns of communication, and power in a group defines the group's

b. structure

In his classic studies of conformity, Asch demonstrated that

c. lack of unanimity greatly reduces the pressure to conform

Zimbardo's prison experiment suggests that many destructive human relationships have their source in

c. learned roles

Research by Donnerstein suggests that the circumstances most likely to increase violent sexual acts against women (such as rape) involve:

c. media images of violence

Which is true of social stereotypes?

c. Likable members of a rejected group are perceived as an "exception."

Aggression is best defined as

c. any action carried out with the intent of harming another person

A learned disposition to respond to people, objects, or institutions in a positive or negative way defines

c. attitudes

According to the theory of cognitive dissonance, attitudes are changed because

c. clashing thoughts cause discomfort

After Mrs. Keech's doomsday predictions failed, her followers suddenly became interested in convincing others they were right. This turn of events is predicted by __________ theory.

c. cognitive dissonance

When you have "clashing thoughts," you are experiencing

c. cognitive dissonance

The degree of attraction among group members relates to the dimension of

c. cohesiveness

The process of changing your behavior to match that of others in a group is

c. conformity

People who think their ethnic, national, or religious group is superior to others are called

c. ethnocentric

A compulsion by decision makers to maintain each other's approval, even at the cost of critical thinking and good judgment, is called

c. groupthink

Discrimination refers to behaviors that

c. prevent individuals from doing things they should be able to do

During research in a simulated prison situation

c. prisoners quickly became passive and dehumanized

The demonstration by Jane Elliot with blue-eyed and brown-eyed children suggests that an effective way to generate conditions of prejudice is to

c. produce inequalities in power, prestige, or privileges of group members

The study of unspoken rules for the use of interpersonal space is called

c. proxemics

Desensitization is

c. reduction of emotional sensitivity

A __________ group is a group based on social comparison.

c. reference

Social position in a group determines one's

c. role

The judge who is caught cheating on his income tax is likely experiencing

c. role conflict

Scapegoating is releasing aggression on __________ targets.

c. safe

Prejudice based on displaced aggression represents a form of

c. scapegoating

Sharing your own private thoughts and feelings is called

c. self-disclosure

A student who is unprepared for a final exam complains that he has a stomach ache and cannot take the exam. If the student's roommate ignores this complaint, he or she has probably attributed the student's symptoms to the

c. situation

Overdisclosure often results in

c. suspicion and reduced attraction

With respect to social traps, people are more likely to restrain themselves from inappropriate behavior if

c. they believe others will also

People's attitudes about women and rape primarily come from

c. violent images in mainstream movies and magazines

The fact that physically attractive people also tend to be rated more highly on traits such as intelligence and honesty is an example of

d. the halo effect

Which statement about physical attractiveness is FALSE?

d. For marriage partners there is a tendency for attractive men to be paired with highly educated women with high incomes

Which of the following is a testament to the power of roles?

d. Zimbardo's prison experiment

__________ attachment style is marked by conflicting feelings of affection, anger, and emotional turmoil

d. ambivalent

A reference group is

d. any group whose values and attitudes are seen as relevant to one's own

Groups reward members with __________ and __________ for comformity.

d. approval; acceptance

Solomon Asch's classic experiment (in which subjects judged a standard line and comparison lines) was arranged to test the limits of

d. conformity

Cognitive dissonance theory is based on the human need for

d. consistency

An ongoing pattern of life including such things as language, customs and sex roles is called

d. culture

The study in which college students attached a bumper sticker for a militant black organization to their cars and then received frequent traffic citations demonstrates

d. discrimination

You are asked by a close friend to outline a complete text to aid her studying for a final exam. You refuse to help. Later, your friend asks if you would at least outline two chapters. Feeling guilty, you now agree to help. Your behavior is predicted by the

d. door-in-the-face effect

Janis recommends ways to prevent groupthink, which include

d. encouraging someone to play devil's advocate

The study of the adaptive origins of human behavior patterns is called

d. evolutionary psychology

For most American adults, an invisible spatial envelope defining their most intimate space

d. extends about 18 inches out from their body

You do not want a large, unattractive political sign in your yard. However, if you initially agree to put a small sign in your window, later you are more likely to allow the large sign in your yard. This course of events is described by the

d. foot-in-the-door effect

The real danger of "groupthink" is that it

d. leads to a suspension of critical thinking

You are walking into a store when a man rudely cuts in front of you, almost shoving you, so that he may enter the store first. "What a jerk!" you think to yourself. As you enter the store, you see the same man performing an emergency tracheotomy on a women with a collapsed windpipe. You have just

d. made the fundamental attribution error

Which is a method to reduce prejudice?

d. mutual interdependence

Milgram's shock study showed people to be surprisingly

d. obedient

An example of a superordinate goal is

d. protecting clean water supplies

Moderate self-disclosure typically leads to

d. reciprocity

During his rise to power, Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany's economic woes. This is an example of

d. scapegoating

Interpersonal attraction is encouraged by which one of the following?

d. similarity

With regard to the effects of TV on children, we can conclude that

d. the amount of TV viewing may be related to aggressive behavior later in life

Which of the following was a significant factor in determining the degree of obedience in Milgram's series of experiments?

d. the setting in which the experiment was conducted

When subjects in Milgram's obedience experiments received their orders over the phone, they

d. were far less obedient