Social Psych Quizzes

The term "construal" refers to

a personal interpretation about situations and other people's behaviors.

Recall that Muzafer Sherif and his colleagues conducted the "Robbers Cave" study, which generated conflict between two groups of boys. This study showed that

a superordinate goal reduced intergroup conflict

Doug Lowenstein, president of the Interactive Digital Software Association, stated, "There is absolutely no evidence, none, that playing a violent video game leads to aggressive behavior." Research by Anderson and Bushman and their colleagues suggests that

Lowenstein is incorrect because some video games increase aggression

Recall that Mary Ainsworth classified the attachment patterns of infants according to how they responded to separations and reunions with their caregivers. Which of the following is NOT one of the styles she specified?

communal

According to ethical guidelines, research in social psychology should have all of the following components included in a study EXCEPT ____________.

compensation for participation

Ashley looks back on her marriage and thinks, "If only I had put more effort into the relationship, Lew and I would still be together." This self-reflection exemplifies

counterfactual thinking

Social psychologists differ from personality psychologists because social psychologists tend to

examine how individuals react "on average" in social situations

The major difference between social psychology and other social sciences, such as anthropology and political science, is that social psychology relies most heavily on ____________ to derive knowledge about human behavior.

experimental research

According to Miller and Dollard, ____________ is likely to increase aggressive tendencies.

frustration

Stereotypes are

generalizations about groups that are often applied to individual group members

Joanna does not think carefully and deliberately about what a politician says during a debate. Instead, she attends to the politician's winning smile and boyish good looks. Thus, Joanna is taking the ____________ route to persuasion.

peripheral

Normative influence often has a greater impact on ____________ than on____________.

public compliance; private acceptance

The concept of ____________ refers to our awareness of what other people think about us.

public self-consiousness

According to the textbook, ____________ is the rule and ____________ is the exception where the formation of relationships is concerned.

similarity; complementarity

The actor-observer difference is the tendency for actors to make ____________ attributions while observers make ____________ attributions.

situational; dispositional

Daniel Batson has argued that there are three main motives behind helping others. These motives include

social rewards, personal distress, and empathic concern

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?

About ____________ percent of the participants in Milgram's initial obedience study delivered the maximum shock of 450 volts.

62

The ____________ component of an attitude consists of the emotional reactions a person has to the attitude object.

affect

Recall that Festinger and Carlsmith gave participants either $1 or $20 for telling others that an experiment was fun and interesting. The experiment entailed turning pegs on a pegboard one quarter turn at a time. Thus, in actuality, the experiment was tedious and boring. Study results showed that

after telling people that the experiment was interesting, participants in the $1 condition tended to express a more favorable attitude toward the experiment

Schemas are important because they

all of the above are true.

Which of the following advertising strategies best illustrates an attempt to persuade people through the central route?

an announcer gives several reasons that SoSoft moisturizing lotion is effective

A group of social psychologists are working on a research project with the aim of promoting condom use as a way to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. This type of research project is probably best described as

applied science

When researchers use a Likert scale to assess individuals' attitudes, they

ask participants to use numbers to indicate the extent to which they agree with particular statement

____________ theory focuses on the ways in which we answer such questions as "Why does my roommate always play his music loudly?"

attribution

Bill has an older brother named Dan. Both Bill and Dan are physics professors. According to Frank Sulloway's research on birth-order effects, Bill should

be more open to "off-the-wall" or "revolutionary" theories.

According to the textbook, why is it a good idea for incumbent politicians to campaign for maintaining the safety and security of their countries?

because people are motivated to maintain the status quo, particularly when their own mortality is made salient

Janet is afraid she will conform to the majority opinion at an upcoming meeting about a dorm curfew. Research suggests that to avoid this fate, Janet should

bring an ally to the meeting

Recall that Kitty Genovese was brutally murdered in front of several eyewitnesses who did not intervene or call for help. According to social psychologists, this failure to assist Kitty was due to

diffusion of responsibility

Frustration-induced aggression tends to be

displaced toward relatively powerless groups

Recall that Kahneman and Tversky conducted an experiment to explain why the availability heuristic occurs. Their results showed clear support for a(n) ____________ explanation.

ease of retrieval

If a social psychology experiment is conducted that has very little relation to real life experience, then this experiment would be said to be low in ____________.

external validity

In the classic Milgram study, participants found themselves in an agonizing conflict. Forces compelling them to complete the experiment included all of the following EXCEPT

feeling empathy for the victim

Looking ten years ahead, Lola imagines herself to be a celebrated writer and a wonderful mother. According to self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987), Lola is reflecting on her

ideal self.

The ____________ has been shown to reveal unconscious prejudices of people who say they advocate universal equality for all groups.

implicit association test

Imagine your car breaks down on a street late at night. According to research on culture and altruism, you are more likely to receive help

in a town with 1,000 residents than a town with 5,000 residents

Consider the following commonsense saying: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." According to cognitive dissonance theory, trying again should ____________ how much you value the outcome of your efforts.

increase

Off-record communication is ____________, and it entails tactics such as ____________.

indirect; metaphorical statements

Sternberg's triangular theory of love holds that there are three major components of love. One of them is commitment. The other two are

intimacy and passion

If an experiment produces reliable results, what does this mean?

it is likely to yield consistent results

When an experiment has poor internal validity, which of the following might be of concern?

it might be difficult to determine if the independent variable was what produced the result

According to Darley and Latané's research, the greater the number of individuals who witness a person in trouble, the

less likely it is that any one person will help the person in need

Compared with people who are reared in independent cultures, people who are reared in interdependent cultures are ____________ susceptible to ____________.

more; informational and normative social influence

Recall that Berkowitz and his colleagues asked pairs of men to work on a series of problems. The men were instructed to deliver shocks to their partners when their performance needed improvement. Some participants were induced to experience anger during the task, whereas others were not. In addition, some participants could see no objects next to the shocking machine, some participants saw neutral objects next to the machine, and some participants saw a gun next to the machine. Consistent with the neo-associationistic perspective, results showed that

only angry participants were more aggressive in the gun condition than in the no-object and neutral-object conditions

Modern racism in the United States is characterized by

prejudice directed at other racial groups that coexists alongside a rejection of explicitly racist beliefs

When our college football team wins, we are more likely to wear school colors the following Monday and to use the pronoun "we" when describing the game-winning touchdown or goal. According to Abraham Tesser's self-evaluation maintenance model, these behaviors illustrate how the process of ____________ can be used to boost our self-esteem.

reflection

According to the textbook, the strongest support for the claim that we have a need to belong comes from the finding that

relationships are vital to our physical and mental well-being

Andy, an advertising executive, wants to use subliminal advertising to encourage people to buy his product. According to the research reviewed in the textbook, what effect will the use of subliminal advertising have on product sales?

sales will not affected

____________ exemplifies a message characteristic, whereas ____________ exemplifies a source characteristic.

the content of a speech; the credibility of a communicator

Sebastian is high in need of cognition. This means he likes to

think deeply about issues

Imagine that you are sitting in class and smoke starts to filter into the room. but nobody else seems to be doing anything about it. According to research and theorizing by Latané and Darley (1968), you are

unlikely to report the smoke to the professor for fear of embarrassing yourself in front of the class

According to the textbook, we are attracted to people who are similar to us because they

validate our own beliefs

In a review of 35 studies, Anderson and Bushman documented several effects of playing violent video games. Which of the following is one of those effects?

violent video games decrease prosocial behavior

A flashbulb memory is a

vivid recollection of when one heard about some emotionally charged news.

Clayton grew up in a "culture of honor." Research conducted by Nisbett and his colleagues suggests that relative to someone who did not grow up in this kind of culture, Clayton is more likely to act aggressively

when someone calls his girlfriend ugly