Chapter 3 - MC

Which is a potential example of the fundamental attribution error? A) Nancy explained her department's success by describing her boss as brilliant. B) Rodney defended his boss's embezzlement by pointing out that he was under severe marital stress at the time of the incident. C) John explained his failure to land the big account by saying that the competing firm had a better product. D) Tom realized that most of his crew failed to get to work because of the big snowstorm. E) Susan acknowledged that her company's sales growth was largely due to the booming economy.

A) Nancy explained her department's success by describing her boss as brilliant.

"You're just like me. I despise you." Which perceptual tendency might the speaker be revealing? A) Projection B) Self-serving bias C) Actor-observer effect D) Similar-to-me effect E) Central Trait

A) Projection

The chairperson opened the meeting by saying "I'm sure you all agree with me that . . ." What perceptual phenomenon might the speaker be exhibiting? A) Projection B) Implicit personality theory C) Stereotyping D) Fundamental attribution error E) Similar-to-me effect

A) Projection

If a manager wants to improve employees' trust perceptions toward management, one thing he or she might do is A) adhere to and behave according to a set of values that employees find acceptable. B) avoid making rater errors when evaluating performance. C) improve rewards and job conditions. D) make sure that organizational procedures are fair. E) all of the above.

A) adhere to and behave according to a set of values that employees find acceptable.

"Geraldo acts differently from everyone else." The speaker in the statement is invoking a ________ cue. A) consensus B) recency C) distinctiveness D) consistency E) situational

A) consensus

Among various selection procedures, which ones are perceived most favourably? A) employment interviews and work samples B) personality tests and work samples C) work samples and honesty tests D) employment interviews and personality tests E) personality tests and honesty tests

A) employment interviews and work samples

The contrast effect means that the perceiver A) exaggerates differences among target people. B) compares target people with her own qualities. C) will generalize about people in a given social category and ignore variations among them. D) favours target people who are different from herself. E) rejects target people who are different from herself.

A) exaggerates differences among target people.

Which of the following statements most accurately defines "perception"? A) Perception is the process by which motives are assigned to explain people's behaviour. B) Perception is the process of interpreting messages of our senses to provide meaning. C) Perception is the tendency to generalize about people and ignore variations between individuals. D) Perception is the tendency to attribute one's own thoughts and feelings to others. E) Perception is reality.

B) Perception is the process of interpreting messages of our senses to provide meaning.

When we invoke ________ we tend not to perceive differences between people. A) projection B) a stereotype C) consistency cues D) the halo effect E) the recency effect

B) a stereotype

If primacy is operating within a selection interview, the job candidate would be well advised to : A) see the interviewer early in the morning. B) be sure her good qualities come out early in the interview. C) engage the interviewer in small talk before getting down to business. D) ask for a different interviewer. E) get an early appointment to see the interviewer.

B) be sure her good qualities come out early in the interview.

"Karen acts differently from everyone else, but Byron acts the same as everyone else." The speaker here is invoking a ________ cue to describe Karen's behaviour and a ________ cue to describe Byron's behaviour. A) distinctiveness; consensus B) consensus; consensus C) consistency; consistency D) distinctiveness; consistency E) consensus; consistency

B) consensus; consensus

"Kevin acts the same as everyone else." The speaker here is invoking a ________ cue. A) consistency B) stereotype C) distinctiveness D) consensus E) recency

D) consensus

If recency is operating within a selection interview, the job candidate would be well advised to A) hold off revealing some good qualities until the end of the interview. B) try to be the last applicant interviewed. C) see the interviewer late in the day. D) list one's most recent jobs first on one's resume. E) ask for a different interviewer.

A) hold off revealing some good qualities until the end of the interview.

ACME Insurance Company wants to improve employee perceptions of organizational support. They hired a new director of human resources to implement supportive human resource practices. What practices are likely to be most effective for developing more positive perceptions of organizational support? A) participation in decision making and opportunities for growth and development B) a fair reward and recognition system and better compensation C) a fair reward and recognition system and opportunities for advancement D) participation in decision making and opportunities for training E) participation in decision making and opportunities for advancement

A) participation in decision making and opportunities for growth and development

Ellen is an employment interviewer. One day she interviews three job applicants and rates the third applicant very negatively. If the contrast effect is responsible for this negative rating, we can be sure that the first two applicants were A) perceived as well qualified for the job. B) perceived as totally unqualified for the job. C) seen by Ellen to be very different from herself. D) seen by Ellen to be very similar to herself. E) given unstructured interviews.

A) perceived as well qualified for the job.

A reporter covering a price fixing trial felt that the alleged price fixer was a crook. The alleged price fixer testified that his boss pressured him to engage in illegal activities. The alleged price fixer felt that the reporter's stories about the trial were the product of a vindictive and nasty mind. The price fixer explained his own behaviour ________ and that of the reporter ________. A) situationally; dispositionally B) dispositionally, dispositionally C) desperately, consistently D) situationally; situationally E) dispositionally; situationally

A) situationally; dispositionally

Employment interviewers tend to A) underweight positive information about the applicant. B) predict applicant success better with an unstructured interview than with a guided interview. C) underweight negative information about the applicant. D) have an easy perceptual task. E) avoid making comparisons between the current candidate and those previously interviewed.

A) underweight positive information about the applicant.

According to Bruner's model of perception, we are most open to cues about a target A) when the target is first encountered. B) when we already have a lot of information about the target. C) when the target has been categorized. D) when the target is very familiar to us. E) once the categorization has been strengthened.

A) when the target is first encountered.

Which of the following factors contribute to perceived organizational support? A) supervisor support, fairness, rewards, opportunities for advancement B) supervisor support, fairness, rewards, job conditions C) supervisor support, job security, recognition, job conditions D) fairness, rewards, pay, job conditions E) fairness, rewards, pay, job security

B) supervisor support, fairness, rewards, job conditions

38) Interviews are more likely to be structured when A) the interviewer has a great deal of experience interviewing B) the interviewer focuses on selection rather than recruitment C) the interviewer focuses on recruitment rather than selection D) the interviewer focuses on recruitment and selection E) the interviewer has worked for the same company for many years

B) the interviewer focuses on selection rather than recruitment

On a construction site, Ray drops a wrench and it almost hits Cecil on the head. If Cecil develops a situational (as opposed to dispositional) explanation of Ray's behaviour he might assume that A) Ray has a poor aim. B) the wrench was oily and it slipped. C) Ray is stupid. D) Ray is a careless person. E) he was the target of a murder attempt.

B) the wrench was oily and it slipped.

"He does it everywhere, he does it all the time, and no one else does it." Which attribution is the speaker likely to make? A) Actor-observer effect B) Situational C) Dispositional D) Self-serving E) Temporary situation

C) Dispositional

"He does it everywhere, he does it all the time, and no one else does it." Which cue combination is the speaker invoking? A) Low consensus, low consistency, high distinctiveness B) Low consensus, low consistency, low distinctiveness C) Low consensus, high consistency, low distinctiveness D) High consensus, low consistency, low distinctiveness E) High consensus, high consistency, high distinctiveness

C) Low consensus, high consistency, low distinctiveness

Heloise was happy that the systems manager was fired. She incorrectly assumed that everyone else in the company was also happy. What perceptual tendency is at work here? A) Fundamental attribution error B) Consensus cues C) Projection D) Occupational stereotyping E) Similar-to-me effect

C) Projection

When we explain a behaviour by referring to some internal personality characteristic we are not offering A) an inference about the cause of the behaviour. B) a rational explanation. C) a situational explanation. D) an attribution. E) a dispositional explanation.

C) a situational explanation.

Which of the following statements may indicate projection by the speaker? A) "I didn't land the contract because the competition was just too good." B) "Telling a white lie to clinch a sale is perfectly ethical." C) "I would never assign a woman to that sales territory." D) "Most of my sales staff think like I think." E) "I don't steal from the company but I'm sure that others do."

D) "Most of my sales staff think like I think."

Bob resigns from a job that most of his friends consider to be a very good job. Which of the following is a dispositional attribution of the reason for Bob's resignation? A) The job that he resigned from was actually very bad. B) Bob was forced to move to another city where medical care for his ill daughter is available. C) Bob found a super job somewhere else. D) Bob is irresponsible and doesn't know a good thing when he sees it. E) The job that he resigned from was scheduled to be eliminated in an upcoming restructuring.

D) Bob is irresponsible and doesn't know a good thing when he sees it.

My perceptions of people are strongly influenced by how kind they are to others. Which concept explains my reaction? A) Primacy effect B) Similar-to-me effect C) Projection D) Central trait E) Central tendency

D) Central trait

Which of the following statements is indicative of an implicit personality theory on the part of the speaker? A) "Roger is aggressive." B) "Accountants are intelligent." C) "Women make bad managers." D) "Teenagers drive more recklessly than seniors." E) "Introverts are honest."

E) "Introverts are honest."

Workforce diversity can be defined in terms of which characteristics? A) Religion B) Ethnicity C) Gender D) Age E) All of the above

E) All of the above

A manager is completing performance evaluations of his employees. Unwittingly, he allows his perceptions of their attendance to colour his ratings of many specific characteristics, including their quality and quantity of work. Thus, those with poor attendance invariably get poor ratings. What's happened? A) Contrast effects B) Harshness C) Similar-to-me effect D) Knowledge-of-predictor bias E) Halo effect

E) Halo effect

What do the following companies have in common (Royal Bank, Merck Forsst, Home Depot, Avis Rent A Car)? A) They won awards for their diversity programs B) They won awards for how they treat aboriginal people C) They won awards for how they treat women D) They won awards for how they treat visible minorities E) They won awards for how they treat older workers

E) They won awards for how they treat older workers

The professor who gives all C's to his class is committing A) halo. B) harshness. C) self-serving bias. D) central trait bias. E) central tendency.

E) central tendency.

18) The self-serving attributional bias A) suggests that we will provide dispositional reasons for our failures. B) may involve providing excuses for one's own behaviour. C) may lead one to attribute their own thoughts and feelings to others. D) may lead one to provide phony compliments when things go well for others. E) suggests that we will provide situational reasons for our successes.

B) may involve providing excuses for one's own behaviour.

According to Bruner's model of the perceptual process, when an unfamiliar target is encountered, we are likely to be ________ to target cues. Once the target has been categorized, however, we become ________ selective in our cue search. A) selective; consistent B) open; more C) open; less D) closed; more E) closed; less

B) open; more

The three main components of perception are A) perceiver, situation, and projection. B) perceiver, situation, and target. C) perceiver, target, and attribution. D) primacy, recency, and projection. E) selectivity, constancy, and primacy.

B) perceiver, situation, and target.

The perception that a person might be judged on the basis of stereotype and that their behaviour or performance will confirm the stereotype is known as a A) coloured lens bias. B) stereotype threat. C) peer group sifting. D) monotype bias. E) preconception phenomenon.

B) stereotype threat.

Driving home from an auto repair shop, you find that the repair you just paid for wasn't done properly. Which of the following would increase your tendency to blame the mechanic's error on dispositional factors? A) You have never had a car repair done right the first time by any mechanic. B) Several friends told you that this mechanic was excellent. C) This mechanic has done poor repairs on your car twice before. D) When you picked up the car, the shop manager said that the mechanic had gone home early because he was injured on the job. E) You had authorized the mechanic to use reconditioned parts instead of new ones.

C) This mechanic has done poor repairs on your car twice before.

Women have made the most significant progress moving into senior management and executive positions in the A) paper and forest products industry B) motor vehicles industry C) financial services industry D) steel production industry E) general manufacturing

C) financial services industry

When researchers studied "weight-based bias", they found that the biases in hiring decisions were lower when the decision makers A) were not concerned about their budgets for salaries. B) had never met the candidate face-to-face. C) had performance-relevant information about the candidate. D) were not able to pre-screen the performance-relevant information about the candidate. E) had experienced weight-based bias themselves.

C) had performance-relevant information about the candidate.

Research shows that the employment interview A) is free of perceptual biases. B) overweights positive information. C) is most effective when the interviewer does not ask personal questions. D) is most valid when the interviewer conducts it in an unstructured format. E) is a totally invalid selection technique.

C) is most effective when the interviewer does not ask personal questions.

Paul met a salesperson for the first time. His first impression was that she was pushy, as were most people in sales that Paul had encountered in the past. According to Bruner's model of the perceptual process, Paul is most likely to A) seek out cues that contradict his first impression. B) change his perception as soon as new cues become evident. C) select cues that confirm his first impression. D) form a stereotype about the salesperson. E) recategorize the target.

C) select cues that confirm his first impression.

When we invoke ________ we tend not to perceive different qualities within people. A) the recency effect B) projection C) the halo effect D) consensus cues E) the primacy effect

C) the halo effect

Prototypes refer to A) our perception that we belong to various social groups, such as our gender, nationality, and so on B) social categories that we use to categorize people such as gender, religion, and so on. C) the most typical attributes embodied by members that belong to a social category D) our unique personal characteristics, such as our interests, abilities, and traits E) members of a social category who best represent the attributes of that category

C) the most typical attributes embodied by members that belong to a social category

The Devious Employment Agency uses a trick to get companies to hire its candidates. If it only has a marginal candidate, it sends over two real duds before sending over this marginal person. Which perceptual reaction is the Devious manager relying on to get the marginal candidate hired? A) Halo effect B) Central trait C) Leniency D) Contrast effect E) Actor-observer effect

D) Contrast effect

For many months, Sam performed his job excellently. However, just before his performance evaluation, Sam's boss saw him insult a client. In the performance evaluation, the boss gave Sam a very low rating. What happened? A) Harshness B) Self-serving bias C) Contrast effect D) Recency effect E) Primacy effect

D) Recency effect

Which is a potential example of the fundamental attribution error? A) Cleo mistook the female vice-president for a secretary. B) Joe attributed the car accident to slippery pavement. C) Rich figured that the team was late because of congested air traffic over Atlanta. D) Shawn thought that her secretary was the kindest person she had ever met. E) Pam explained that late report by noting that she wasn't familiar with the new software.

D) Shawn thought that her secretary was the kindest person she had ever met.

Samantha engages in a low consensus behaviour. What other combination of cues will ensure that an observer makes a dispositional attribution about the behaviour? A) The behaviour is also low in distinctiveness and high in contrast. B) The behaviour is also low in distinctiveness and low in consistency. C) The behaviour is also high in distinctiveness and high in consistency. D) The behaviour is also low in distinctiveness and high in consistency. E) The behaviour is also high in distinctiveness and low in consistency.

D) The behaviour is also low in distinctiveness and high in consistency.

Knowing that a person falls into some social category, we might assume that he or she possesses certain traits, and that everyone in this category possesses these traits. This is an example of: A) projection. B) reliance on central traits. C) a situational attribution. D) a stereotype. E) consensus cues.

D) a stereotype.

The actor-observer effect suggests that A) actors and observers tend to view the actor's behaviour in an identical way. B) actors tend to take credit for successful outcomes and blame failures on observers. C) observers tend to make situational attributions about the actor's behaviour. D) actors and observers tend to view the actor's behaviour in a different way. E) actors tend to make dispositional attributions about their own behaviour.

D) actors and observers tend to view the actor's behaviour in a different way.

Which of the following best represents the notion that social identities are relational and comparative? A) medical students are perceived as students by patients in the hospital and as students by their professors in the classroom B) medical students are perceived as doctors by patients in the hospital but as students by themselves C) medical students are perceived as students by patients in the hospital before they graduate but as doctors by the same patients after they have graduated D) medical students are perceived as doctors by patients in the hospital but as students by their professors in the classroom E) medical students are perceived as doctors by patients in the hospital but as children by their parents

D) medical students are perceived as doctors by patients in the hospital but as students by their professors in the classroom

According to social identity theory, our sense of self is composed of a: A) self identity and social identity B) social identity and relational identity C) social identity and normative identity D) personal identity and social identity E) personal identity and relational identity

D) personal identity and social identity

Encouraging teamwork between minority and majority members should A) have no effect on workplace stereotypes. B) increase workplace stereotypes by requiring different individuals to work with people different than themselves. C) result in increased employee turnover. D) reduce workplace stereotypes by requiring different individuals to work with people different than themselves. E) maintain workplace stereotypes by requiring different individuals to work with people different than themselves.

D) reduce workplace stereotypes by requiring different individuals to work with people different than themselves.

Joan was poorly treated in an employment interview and perceived the organizations as lacking respect for its employees. What is this an example of? A) contrast effects B) social identity theory C) halo effect D) signalling theory E) fundamental attribution error

D) signalling theory

44) Common workplace stereotypes include stereotypes based on A) age. B) race. C) gender. D) ethnicity. E) All of the above.

E) All of the above.

Trust perceptions toward management are based on perceptions of A) ability, fairness, and support B) ability, benevolence, and support C) benevolence, integrity, and support D) ability, honesty, and support E) ability, benevolence, and integrity

E) ability, benevolence, and integrity

Trust results in positive employee attitudes and behaviours because it A) improves employees' perceived supervisor support B) improves employee motivation C) lowers employee stress D) improves employees' perceived organizational support E) improves employees' ability to focus

E) improves employees' ability to focus

"I don't really like you very much, and this causes me to overlook a number of your good qualities." This is an example of A) stereotyping. B) central tendency. C) implicit personality theory. D) harshness. E) the halo effect.

E) the halo effect.

Perceptual defence is A) the tendency to generalize about people and ignore variations between individuals. B) the tendency to attribute one's own thoughts and feelings to others. C) the process by which motives are assigned to explain people's behaviour. D) the process of interpreting messages of our senses to provide meaning. E) the tendency for the perceptual system to defend the perceiver against unpleasant emotions.

E) the tendency for the perceptual system to defend the perceiver against unpleasant emotions.

Subjective performance measures are called "subjective" because A) bosses and employees frequently disagree on the ratings. B) it is impossible to measure performance objectively. C) they focus attention directly on the interview subject. D) all performance measures are subjective. E) they are a product of the perceptions of an observer.

E) they are a product of the perceptions of an observer.

We may rely on dispositional explanations when making judgments about the behaviour of other people because A) we have a tendency to give others the benefit of doubt when they offend us. B) we have a tendency to project our own thoughts and feelings on others. C) we realize that circumstances beyond their control can cause them to act the way they do. D) we are making excuses for our own behaviour. E) we don't appreciate how their behaviour can vary in other situations.

E) we don't appreciate how their behaviour can vary in other situations.

Gender stereotypes are least likely to have a negative impact on women A) when a rater or evaluator has little information about their qualifications. B) when they ask to attend a professional development conference. C) when they are applying for a job. D) when they are seeking a promotion. E) when their performance is being evaluated by their boss.

E) when their performance is being evaluated by their boss.