General Psychology Module 41 Critical Thinking

Feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in particular ways to objects, people, and events are called:

attitudes.

An ad agency creates two ads for a particular car. One stresses the car's safety and gas mileage; the other simply shows how much fun it is to drive. The first ad relies on _____ route persuasion; the second, on ____ route persuasion.

central; peripheral

We tend to feel discomfort when our thoughts are inconsistent with our actions and then act to reduce that discomfort. This is known as:

cognitive dissonance theory

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

Evan's father yells at him for being five minutes late for tee time. Rather than believe his father is a rude jerk, he decides that he may be having difficulties at his job. This means he makes a _____ attribution about his behavior.

situational

Dr. Perez is studying prejudice and discrimination. She is MOST likely a _____ psychologist.

social

The branch of psychology that studies how people think, feel, and behave in interpersonal situations is called _____ psychology.

social

Our attitudes about another person are MOST likely to influence the way we treat that person if our attitudes are:

stable

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 that

Patricia's recklessness has finally gotten her into trouble.