CHAPTER ONE: Social psych.
the basic goal of a theory is
explanation
which of the following values would indicate the "strongest " correlation?
-.72
a framework that reflects basic concepts, as well as statements about the relationships between these concepts, iskonwn as
a theory
variables are said to be confounded when
a factor that is not systematically varied exists and may have an effect on an experiment's outcomes
social psychology embraces ___ as core scientific values
accuracy, objectivity, skepticism, and open- mindedness
Doug and Belinda are most likely to have higher satisfaction if they ______.
all of the above
Sue is conducting an experiment where 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_____
amount of stuttering that occurs
as a scientific discipline, social psychology strives for
an objective understanding of behavior
recent research on implicit processes demonstrate that such processes
are quite influential in our social behavior and thought
social psychologists are primarily interested in understanding the many factors and conditions that shape the social ___ and ___ of individuals
behavior; thought
radha is from india and is jana's friend . in making a judgment about radha's reason for being late for coffee, jana may infer that radha is late because she had a confusing day or Jana may decide that radha doesn't really have much respect for her schedule. this is best explained as an example of a
cognitive process
a "causal relationship" means that
changes in one variable causes changes in another variable
a correlation exists between two variables when
changes in the two variables are related to each other
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
why take a scientific approach? part of the answer lies in the ___ nature of proverbs, axioms, maxims and the like
contradictory
the divorce rate in the US has changed dramatically since the 1950s. this change may be explained in part by the effect that ___ have on behavior
cultural beliefs
the social rules concerning how individuals should behave in specific situations are known as
cultural beliefs and norms
a multicultural perspective is recognized as increasingly important to research in social psychology because
cultural factors such as race or ethnicity help determine self identity
Social psychologists seek to find basic principles that will explain social behaviour. However both ____ differences and social ______________ world make this challenging.
cultural, rapidly changing
the system of shared meanings, perceptions, and beliefs held by persons belonging to the same group is known as
culture
the process of carefully observing behavior as it occurs is known as
systematic observation
the practice of providing participants with a full description of the purposes of a study after they have participated in the study is known as
debriefing
in experimental research, one variable is measured. this varisable isknow as the
dependent variable
despite some variation, there appear to be universal mating preferences for certain physical features. this fact suggests that these attractiveness features are influenced by
evolutionary factors
based on a ___, a child, early in life, is more likely to look like
evolutionary perspective; its father
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
the extent to which experimental results can be generalized to real-life situations is a question of an experiment's
external validity
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
in experimental research, one variable is systematically changed this variable is known as .
independent variable
the variation referred to by evolutionary psychologists is that
individual members of any given species differ from each other in many ways
social psychologists sometimes conceal information about the true purpose of a study from the research participants until after the study is completed. This use of deception is justified when
knowledge of the study's purpose may alter the behavior of the participants
amando, based on his estimate of how long it would take him to complete his midterm essay, told his instructor he would turn in the paper on tuesday, but was late turning it in, causing his instructor to deduct a letter grade from the paper. Next time Armando makes such a promise based on a plan, he will likely
make the same planning error and be late again
a researcher is interested in the relationship between the courtship behaviors and physical characteristics of people. If the researcher should establish that there is a correlation of +.37 between physical attractiveness and dating frequency, we can conclude that
more attractive people date more often than less attractive people
a ___ in social phsycology ___ in the US
multicultural perspective; recognizes a widening of diversity
the observation of behavior as it occurs in natural settings is known as
naturalistic observation
in an experiment, researchers wanted to know eas. then employees in all three work groups began to operate machinery that produced small electrical components. twhether 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 seperate identical work areas but the lighting was set at a different level in each of the work arhe number of components produced by each group was carefully tallied at the end of each 8 hour shift. In this example, the dependant variable is
number of components produce
the process of giving participants as much information is possible about experimental procedures to be used before the participants agree to participate is known as
obtaining informed consent
one advantage of knowing the correlation between two variables is that
one variable can then be used to predict another
social psychologists focus their attention mainly on individuals because
our behavior is influenced by actions of other individuals in social situations
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 participant's behavior
the procedure that ensures that participants are not assigned to an experimental condition on the basis of any individual characteristics is called
random assignment
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
suppose smoking and drinking alcohol are found to be correlated at +.65. we can conclude that
smoking is probably related to drinking
research has shown a positive correlation between 1) socio-economic status of the family of origin and 2) college graduation rates. Based on this information, we can conclude that
students born into wealthier families are more likely to complete college than students born into poorer families
in order to determine whether people have a strong or weak preference for the color of their cookware, a company wants to collect information from many of its past customers. if the number of past customers is very large, the company may want to consider using ___ methods
survey
which is not an advantage of using surveys to collect information
surveys can be used to determine causal relationships between variables
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 wher 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. One possible confound for this experiment is__
the attitude of the assistant
A researcher wants to know whether writing an essay on a controversial topic will have an effect on the attitudes held by people. First, she administers an attitude survey that covers a number of topics, including electronic voting machines. She then randomly assigns subjects to write an essay either supporting or opposing the use of electronic voting machines. One week later, she administers the same attitude survey and compares those responses to the responses from the first time the survey was administered. In this experiment, the dependent variable (DV) is ________.
the attitude survey
A researcher wants to know whether writing an essay on a controversial topic will have an effect on the attitudes held by people. First, she administers an attitude survey that covers a number of topics, including electronic voting machines. She then randomly assigns subjects to write an essay either supporting or opposing the use of electronic voting machines. One week later, she administers the same attitude survey and compares those responses to the responses from the first time the survey was administered. In this experiment, the INdependent variable (DV) is ________.
the essay
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 wher 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, dpendent variable is__
the extent to which participant helped assistant
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 gorup 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 coudl hear screams from another room. Members of group 2 were like wise 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. In this experiment, the independent variable is
the level of anxiety induced in the participants
one reason that social scientists put their faith in the scientific method is that
the scientific method produces more conclusive evidence than other methods
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 gorup 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 coudl hear screams from another room. Members of group 2 were like wise 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. In this experiment, the hypothesis is
the strong negative emotions will increase people's need to affiliate with others
Kim knows she needs to go take summer courses, but worries about leaving her new boyfriend for 3 months. she wonders, will "absence make the heart grow stronger" be true, or is "out of sight, out of mind" more applicable. this is an example of
the unscientific nature of conventional wisdom
suppose a company asked its workers, " now that you have received a raise, how satisfied are you with you job?" and found that 87% indicated they wer "very satisfied" or "satisfied" A major concern of this study would likely be
the way the question was asked
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
Professor Garcia is studying how cancer patients are coping with their illness by giving them one of the following sets of instructions: they are to keep a daily diary and write about anything, keep a daily diary and write about coping with their illness, or not to keep a diary whatsoever . After following this protocol for a month, professor Garcia measures the cancer patients self reported level of depression. the independent variable is ______ and independent variable is _____
type of diary kept, self reported level of depression
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 wher 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, independent variable is____
type of feedback, praise, or criticism given to participants
the evolutionary perspective on social behavior suggests that
we inherit tendencies or dispositions to behave in certain ways
the evolutionary perspective on social psychology suggests taht
we inherit tendencies to behave in certain ways
a researcher worked with members of a political action committee to survey potential voters by telephone before an election. PAC members conducted the poll themselves while the researcher tabulated the results. the poll asked which candidate people plan to vote for in the upcoming election. which of the following may present problems for the accuracy of the results?
(One question was "do you plan to vote for candidate A or B?", the survey was scheduled to coincide with a large rally for one candidate , the sample of potential voters was taken from telephone directories only.) all of these may present problems for the accuracy of the results.
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 wher 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 hyothesis is
a person's mood has an effect on how helpful that person is likely to be
In addition to social cognition, and behavioural approaches. research on ___________ has helped social psychologists develop a greater understanding of how people form impressions, choose to help others, and even comply with requests
emotions
in an experiment, researchers wanted to know eas. then employees in all three work groups began to operate machinery that produced small electrical components. twhether 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 seperate identical work areas but the lighting was set at a different level in each of the work arhe number of components produced by each group was carefully tallied at the end of each 8 hour shift. In this example, the independent variable is___
level of lighting
suppose a researcher exposes participants to one of the following three scenarios : for a 20 min period, they hear either classical music, rock music, or no music. afterwards the researcher measures the general mood of the participants. the three scenarios refer to the ___ of the ___ variable
levels; independent
Researchers who systemically change one variable in order to determine what effect it has on another variable are using______
experimental methods
researchers who systematically change one variable in order to determine what effect this has on another variable are using
experimental methods
the fundamental purpose of a theory is to
explain some particular group of events or processes
which of the following study question could absolutely not be explored using experimentation due to ethical reasons?
how do individuals cope when their spouse dies
___ 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 dependent variable is defined as the variable that is
measured by the experimenter
when research results are not consistent with a theory, the researcher's next step usually involves
modifying the theory and collecting additional data
research has, in adults, documented a negative correlation between 1) obesity, and 2) participation in physically demanding leisure activities. One possible interpretation of these results is that
obese people tend to exercise less than non obese people do
there are two important ethical issues involved in the use of deception in research. these issues include the possibility of harming research participants by the deception and ___
participants may come to mistrust researchers in the future
lawshawna meets another girl at a party who is not from lashawnas ethnic group, and whom lashawna judges, based on her stereotype of that group, is probably shallow and a gossip. the best description of lashawnas judgement is that she is engaged in
social cognitive process
area of psychology that studies the interplay between brain events and thought, emotion and behavior
social neuroscience
in an experiment, researchers wanted to know eas. then employees in all three work groups began to operate machinery that produced small electrical components. twhether 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 seperate identical work areas but the lighting was set at a different level in each of the work arhe number of components produced by each group was carefully tallied at the end of each 8 hour shift. In this example, the hypothesis is s
the level of lighting will affect employee productivity
the moon is full, and cristenel has been behaving wildly. although sober, hes been alternately barking like a dog at strangers on the street, and/or asking them "arent ya just happy now?" it is possible that cristenel's behavior is due to
the moon as an environmental influence
the majority of research participants who learn that they have been deceived in an experiment seem to react
without negative feelings
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
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
the focus of social psychology is on
the behavior and thoughts of individuals
the planning fallacy is
a tendency for individuals to believe that projects will take less time than they actually do
random assignment of research participants to experimental conditions means that
each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to each experimental condition
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
even though ther is no single 'best" method of research, the ___ method is generally preferred by social psychologists
experimental
it is ___ to remove from research the possibility of any harm to a participant ___
impossible; because research occasionally involved some mild distress for participants
which of the following categories is not one of the five categories mentioned in your text regarded factors affecting social interaction?
perceptual processes
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 gorup 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 coudl hear screams from another room. Members of group 2 were like wise 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. In this experiment, researchers assigned particpants to one of the two groups because____
random assignment ensures that any changes in the dependant variable are caused inly by changes in the independent variable