soc psych practice exam

Which of the following values would indicate the "strongest" correlation?

-.72

Suppose a researcher found a very strong, positive correlation between how much television a child watches and their levels of aggression. Which of the following conclusions is MOST accurate?

Given that this investigation represents a correlational study, it is impossible to determine the nature of causality.

________ processes represent those factors and processes which influence thought, feelings, or behaviors and of which we are either not aware or only dimly aware.

Implicit

The planning fallacy is ________.

a tendency for individuals to believe that projects will take less time than they actually do

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. Afterwards, 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 person's mood has an effect on how helpful that person is likely to be

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 ________.

amount of stuttering that occurs

The ways we think about other people and the things we remember about them may have an effect on our behavior. These thoughts and memories are examples of ________.

cognitive processes

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 ____ .

disagree with quickly

People tend to become more irritable and aggressive when the weather is hot and humid. This fact is an example of the effects of ________ on social behavior.

environmental variables

The branch of psychology that seeks to examine the potential role of genetic factors in different aspects of human behavior is known as ________.

evolutionary psychology

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 ________.

level of lighting will affect employee productivity

A(n) ________ in social psychology ________ in the U.S.

multicultural perspective; recognizes a widening of diversity

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 ________.

number of components produced

One advantage of knowing the correlation between two variables is that ________.

one variable can then be used to predict another

Research on mirror neurons with individuals who are high, moderate, and low in empathy revealed________.

participants low in empathy showed equal amounts of neural activity to both social and non-social stimuli

Some social psychologists use deception in their research in order to ________.

prevent the purpose of the research from having an effect on participants' behavior

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 ________.

random assignment ensures that any changes in the dependent variable are caused only by changes in the independent variable

The people who complete a survey must be representative of the population about which conclusions are to be drawn. This is known as the issue of ________.

sampling

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 ________.

there is no relationship between the types of clothing worn in non-work settings and the type of work that people do

The way a question is phrased may sometimes influence the way people respond to the question. In survey research, this is known as the issue of ________.

wording