Module 9: Social Psychology and experimental research quiz

Rhonda has just learned that her neighbor Patricia was involved in an automobile accident at a nearby intersection. The tendency to make the fundamental attribution error may lead Rhonda to conclude

"Patricia's recklessness has finally gotten her into trouble."

If a researcher were to study the fundamental attribution error using an experimental design, which of the following should NOT be done?

Allow participants to choose whether they will be in the experimental or control condition

Jon buys a boring video game for $60. Michael buys the same game for $5. According to cognitive dissonance theory, which person will probably have a more favorable evaluation of the game?

Jon

Imagine that you have designed an experiment to test the hypothesis that African American bystanders will be more likely to help fellow African Americans than Asian Americans in an emergency situation. You plan to observe how African American bystanders behave in two situations: One in which an African American person is lying down and crying for help in a public place, and another in which a Asian American person is performing the same behavior in the same location but on a different day. One of the independent variables in this experiment will be:

The race of the person crying for help

Which of the following sayings demonstrates a mismatch between the knowledge provided by "folk wisdom" and the empirical knowledge provided about the bystander effect via social psychological research?

There's safety in numbers.

The fundamental attribution error is most likely to lead observers to conclude that unemployed people

are irresponsible and unmotivated

Mark obeyed the commands of his military unit officer to engage in destructive behavior that was sharply inconsistent with Mark's ethical values. The discomfort associated with Mark's awareness of the inconsistency between his values and his actions best illustrates

cognitive dissonance

The presence of many bystanders at the scene of an emergency increases the likelihood that any individual bystander will

fail to interpret the incident as an emergency

As Arlette walks through a shopping mall, she happens to pass an older woman who is sitting on a bench, clutching her arm, and moaning in pain. The presence of many other shoppers in the mall will most likely increase the probability that Arlette will

fail to notice the older woman's problem

Cognitive dissonance theory emphasizes that we seek to reduce the discomfort we feel when we become aware that

our attitudes and actions clash

A tendency to overestimate the extent to which a stranger's violent behavior stems from his or her aggressive personality best illustrates

the fundamental attribution error

The tendency for observers to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal dispositions on another's behavior is called

the fundamental attribution error

Mrs. Pinheiro fell on a busy city sidewalk and broke her leg. Although hundreds of pedestrians saw her lying on the ground, most failed to recognize that she was in need of medical assistance. Their oversight best illustrates one of the dynamics involved in

the bystander effect

People are less likely to give aid if an emergency occurs in the presence of many observers. This is known as

the bystander effect

During presidential primary season, prominent politicians often say negative things about other politicians with whom they are competing. Candidate B might call Candidate A a liar. In the event that Candidate A wins the party's nomination and runs for president, Candidate B may be expected to publicly support Candidate A in spite of the negative things that were said during the primary. If Candidate B feels awkward about saying that people should vote for Candidate A even though that candidate had previously been called a liar, this feeling would be labeled:

Cognitive Dissonance