Chapter 13 Learning Curve

Which social psychological phenomenon is probably MOST relevant to the United States' controversial 2003 decision to invade Iraq?

groupthink

While on a date with his girlfriend, Juan discovered that she was depressed about a low exam grade. He found that he began to feel dejected and they both talked very little and ended the date early. Juan's change in mood BEST illustrates:

the chameleon effect

Marilyn thinks a strict class attendance policy is an indication of her professor's overly controlling personality, rather than a necessity dictated by the limited number of class sessions in a course that meets only once each week. Her judgment BEST illustrates:

the fundamental attribution error

You would probably be LEAST likely to commit the fundamental attribution error in explaining why:

you failed a college exam

In 2010, Facebook showed 61 million people a message that encouraged their voting, with a link to a local voting place and a clickable "I voted" button. This action led to an additional _____ votes.

282,000

In a follow-up to his original obedience experiment, Milgram used 40 new teachers to determine whether participants obeyed because the learners' protests were not convincing. The new teachers complied fully _____ percent of the time.

65

Summer watches as a student stumbles and drops her books in the hall. If she demonstrates the fundamental attribution error, how would Summer explain the student's behavior?

She is a clumsy person

Dr. Scholz is reading an article describing research in which investigators examined how the presence of other people influenced participants' performance on a variety of tasks. Dr. Scholz is MOST likely reading the Journal of Research in _____ Psychology.

Social

What might account for why, in college residence halls, students' attitudes become more similar to those living near them?

They may feel as though others in the residence hall are observing their behavior

Which comment is MOST likely to be made by the leader of a group characterized by groupthink?

We have been united on matters in the past, I hope that will continue

Conformity is BEST described as:

adjusting one's behavior or thinking toward a group standard.

Nadine has strong feelings about a website used to enroll in health insurance. These feelings stem in part from her political beliefs, and they may influence her voting behavior in subsequent elections. Nadine has a(n):

attitude

During a test, Abe impulsively copied several answers from a nearby student's paper. He felt very uncomfortable about having done this until he convinced himself that copying answers is not wrong if classmates are careless enough to expose their test sheets. Which of these BEST explains why Abe adopted this new attitude?

cognitive dissonance theory

Line length is to _____ as shock is to _____.

conformity; obedience

Which concept refers to the loss of self-awareness and evaluation apprehension, which occurs in group situations that foster responsiveness to group norms?

deindividuation

Feeling what others feel is called:

empathy

Tyler is with three of his friends at a restaurant. One of his friends yawns, then another friend does so, and then finally Tyler yawns. Research suggests that Tyler and his friends who also mimicked the yawn may show increased levels of:

empathy

An attribution is a(n):

explanation of the cause of a behavior

Christine thinks her job's strict lateness policy is an indication of her boss's overly controlling personality, rather than a necessity dictated by the company's high sales goal (her boss has to report how many shoes were sold each day to the corporate headquarters). Her judgment BEST illustrates the _____ error.

fundamental attribution

Groupthink is fueled by a desire for:

group harmony

In a phenomenon called _____, groups make decisions that are more extreme than would the individual members of the group..

group polarization

Group members sometimes fail to consider a range of viewpoints and alternatives in an effort to maintain cohesiveness and a united front. This is called:

groupthink

Which phenomenon was at least partially responsible for the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the escalation of the Vietnam War, the U.S. Watergate cover-up, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident, the U.S. space shuttle Challenger explosion, and the Iraq War?

groupthink

The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony with others overrides a realistic appraisal of decision-making alternatives is referred to as:

groupthink.

People often accept other people's opinions about reality because they wish to be accurate. This is called _____ social influence.

informational

Social facilitation is MOST likely to occur in the performance of _____ tasks.

simple, well-practiced

Dr. Pena is conducting research about how people form impressions of others and how they interpret one another's behavior in a variety of situations. Dr. Pena is probably a _____ psychologist.

social

Lars is an excellent violinist. In front of an audience, he tends to play his violin even more beautifully than when he is alone. This is MOST likely due to:

social facilitation

When we perform better on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others, this is called:

social facilitation

A person tends to exert more effort when she or he is individually accountable than when she or he is working in a group with others toward a common goal. This is known as:

social loafing

The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable is called:

social loafing

Researchers asked homeowners for permission to install a large, poorly lettered sign in their front yards. Only 17 percent of the homeowners consented to the installations. Researchers then approached different homeowners and asked if they could post a small sign. Nearly all agreed. Then, when asked two weeks later if they could post the large, ugly sign, 76 percent consented. The results of this experiment support:

the foot-in-the-door phenomenon

Which statement reflects the fundamental attribution error?

Eryn cheated on the exam because she's dishonest

_____ result(s) from a person's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality.

Informational social influence

Travis is on trial for attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. A psychiatrist has testified that Travis has a psychological disorder affecting aggressive behavior. What is likely to happen?

the judge will give him a lighter sentence

"Fake it until you make it" is a saying of Alcoholics Anonymous and represents:

the power of acting a new role

A norm is a(n):

understood rule for accepted and expected behavior in a given group

Joleen has just pulled into the parking lot of her local grocery store. As soon as she gets out of the car, a homeless woman approaches her and asks for money. Joleen gives the woman a few dollars and then goes inside the store to do her shopping. Joleen believes that the woman is homeless because she has not been given the same opportunities as others. Joleen is MOST likely a member of the _____ Party.

Democratic

_____ result(s) from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval.

Normative social influence

Why are people susceptible to normative social influence?

People have a need to belong

_____ route persuasion uses unimportant cues to trigger speedy, emotion-based judgments.

Peripheral

Participants in Milgram's obedience experiments were informed that they were involved in a study of:

learning

In one study on social loafing, blindfolded students were asked to pull on a rope as hard as they could. The students pulled hardest when they thought:

no one else was pulling with them.

Marcie is invited to a black-tie dinner at the Ritz-Carlton. She has never been served a 10-course meal before, so she is unfamiliar with the social etiquette regarding silverware selection. Because Marcie is in a foreign environment, she gets through the night by watching others who appear to know what they are doing. For each course, she follows their selection of silverware. Marcie is displaying _____ social influence.

normative

Javier has the potential to be an honor student but frustrates his teachers because of his actions. Rather than work to succeed, he tends to dumb down to act more like the students with whom he hangs out. He has at times answered questions incorrectly in class, on purpose, in order to be more like his friends. Javier's behavior is an example of:

normative social influence

While Wendy disagrees with her boss, she laughs at her joke anyway to gain her approval. Wendy's behavior illustrates:

normative social influence

We are more likely to conform to group pressure when:

we admire the group's status and attractiveness