Test 2 Miscellaneous

Question 1

The text discussed three historical examples of groupthink. Each was a twentieth-century “major fiasco.” which of the following was NOT one of the three examples?

Answer 1

The Vietnam War.

Question 2

What or who are mind guards?

Answer 2

group members who protect the group from information that goes against the groups plan.

Question 3

According to the text, there are several symptoms of groupthink. Put a checkmark in front of each statement that represents a symptom.

Answer 3

Individual group members who disagree with the majority are criticized.
Group members consider their enemies too evil to negotiate with or too weak to counter the group’s plan.
Group members believe not only in the practicality and success of the group plan but also its moral integrity.

Question 4

According to the text, which of the following is generally true of face-to-face brainstorming?

Answer 4

People feel more productive in generating ideas than when alone.

Question 5

Empirical support for evolutionary theory of dating/mating.

Answer 5

Cross cultural research shows that men and women differ in mate preferences in the same ways across most culture.
Men are much more likely than women to agree to have sex with someone with someone of the opposite sex they haven’t met before.

Question 6

Emirical criticism for evolutionary theory of dating/mating.

Answer 6

In cultures in which women have as much (or almost as much) power as men, there is no gender difference in desire for a mate “with money.”
In short term relationships, there is no gender difference in desire for a mate “with looks.”

Question 7

Logical criticism for evolutionary theory of dating/mating.

Answer 7

evolutionary arguments for gender differences in dating/mating are essentially cause-effect conclusions, but the gender-comparison studies on which those conclusions are partly based do not justify cause-effect conclusions, because gender is not a true IV
Evolutionary arguments for gender differences in dating/mating are “after-the-fact” and may be at risk of “hindsight bias.”

Question 8

Logical support for evolutionary theory of dating/mating.

Answer 8

behaviors/preferences that help a species’ genes to survive are more likely to stick around in that species over time.
There is research support for evolutionary principles in humans’s development oh physical features and in the development of features and behaviors of creatures with short life spans. One can then try to generalize from this research to human behaviors like dating/mating.

Question 9

what was the main point in the text section titled, “Evolutionary Science and Religion”?

Answer 9

that science and religion are not adversaries and can coexist comfortably.

Question 10

being androgynous refers to which of the following?

Answer 10

having moth masculine and feminine features.

Question 11

according to the text, how do individual differences (within male or female group) compare to gender differences (differences between average man and woman)?

Answer 11

individual differences far exceed gender differences.

Question 12

according to the text, compliance refers to which of the following in the conformity research?

Answer 12

publicly confirming but privately disagreeing.

Question 13

the text had a section titled, “What predicts conformity?” There were 6 subheadings representing 6 answers to this question. Which of the following is NOT one of those subheadings?

Answer 13

stress level.

Question 14

according to chapter 6, under “Who conforms”, researchers have focused on which of the following?

Answer 14

three predictors: personality, culture, and social roles.

Question 15

according to the PARBS article, what is it called when you think something must be true because nearly everybody else believes it?

Answer 15

naturalistic fallacy, bandwaggon fallacy, and arguments ad populum.

Question 16

according to the PARBS article, what was/were the reasons for why so many people shared fake news stories during the 2016 U.S. presidential election?

Answer 16

anger and the confirmation bias.

Question 17

in the research studies by Cohen and colleagues (2003), what was the topic discussed in the stimulus materials read by the participants?

Answer 17

welfare.

Question 18

According to Cohen’s (2003) research, were participants aware that participants’ attitudes were biased by their political groups?

Answer 18

yes, participants realized that OTHERS were biased by their group.s

Question 19

the general result section of Cohen’s research was that if participants supported a policy that their political group opposed, then participants were typically likely to change their attitudes to match their group. Near the end of the Cohen article, the authors speculated that this attitude change might be due to…

Answer 19

cognitive dissonance.

Question 20

What was the gist of Cohen’s study?

Answer 20

demonstrated both the power of group influence in persuasion and people’s blindness to it.

Question 21

What did his studies aim to do?

Answer 21

They wanted to pit the effect of reference group information (whether democrats or republicans supported the policy) against prior ideological beliefs and policy content (whether to policy was generous or stringent).

Question 22

Study 1

Answer 22

liberal and conservative college students were presented with one of two versions of a welfare policy. one version provided generous benefits, whereas the other provided stringent benefits.

Question 23

results of study 1

Answer 23

regardless of whether the policy was generous or stringent, liberal participants supported it if told that democrats supported it, and vice versa for republicans.

Question 24

Study 2

Answer 24

because of the limited number of conservative students in the participant pool, only liberal students took part.

Question 25

results of study 2

Answer 25

in absence of reference group information, liberal participants favored the generous policy more than the stringent one. When reference group information was available, participants gave no weight to objective policy content, and instead assumed the position of their group as their own.

Question 26

Study 3

Answer 26

only used conservative students.

Question 27

results of study 3

Answer 27

participants again based their attitude on policy content if reference group information was absent, but they seemingly defied that content if reference group information was available.

Question 28

What was a common denominator in every study?

Answer 28

participants were blind to the effect of group information on their attitudes.

Question 29

relevance to dual processing models of persuasion

Answer 29

both the heuristic systematic model and the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion informed the analysis of attitude change presented here.

Question 30

how well do our attitudes predict our behavior?

Answer 30

Our expressions of attitudes and our behaviors are each subject to many influences. Our attitudes predict our behavior if 1) other influences are minimized, 2) if the attitude corresponds closely with the predicted behavior, 3) if the attitude is potent.

Attitudes are often poor predictors or behavior, but under these conditions, they do.

Question 31

when does our behavior affect our attitude?

Answer 31

attitude-action reaction also works in the reverse direction: we are likely not only to think ourselves into action, but also to act ourselves into a way of thinking.

The actions prescribed by social roles mold the attitudes of the role players.
what we say or write can strongly influence attitude.
foot-inpthe-door phenomenon.
actions effect our moral attitudes (that which we have done, even if it is evil, we tend to justify as right.
Racial and political behaviors shape our attitudes.
Political and social movements.

Question 32

why does our behavior effect our attitudes?

Answer 32

three competing theories:

1) self-presentation theory assumes that people will adapt their attitudes so they are consistent with their actions.
2) dissonance theory: we feel tension after acting contrary to our attitudes.
3) self-perception theory: assumes that when our attitudes are weak, we simply observe our own behaviors, and then infer out attitudes.

Question 33

how are we influenced by human nature and cultural diversity?

Answer 33

genes, evolution, behavior.

culture and behavior (cultural diversity, norms and expected behavior, cultural similarity).

Question 34

how are gender similarities and difference explained?

Answer 34

connectedness versus independence. Women typically do more caring, express more empathy and emotion, and define themselves more in terms of relationships. In every known culture on earth, men tend to have more social power and are more likely than women to engage in physical aggression.

Question 35

evolution and gender: doing what comes naturally?

Answer 35

1) gender and mating preferences
2) reflections of evolutionary psychology
3) gender and hormones

Question 36

Culture and gender: doing as the culture says?

Answer 36

1) gender roles vary with culture
2) gender roles vary over time
3) peer-transmitted culture

Question 37

what can we conclude about genes, culture and gender?

Answer 37

1) biology AND culture.

2) the power of situation AND person

Question 38

what is conformity?

Answer 38

changing ones behaviors or beliefs in response to real or imagined social pressure.

Question 39

what are the classic conformity and obedience studies?

Answer 39

sherif’s studies of norm formation.
Asch’s studies of group pressure
Milgrams obedience studies (ethics of milgrams studies)
what breeds obedience? (closeness and legitimacy of the authority, institutional authority, the liberating effects of group influence)
reflections on the classic studies.

Question 40

Solomon Asch group pressure studies

Answer 40

conformity procedure using lines of differing lengths.

People will call black which in a matter of concern.

Question 41

What predicts conformity?

Answer 41

group size
unanimity
cohesion
status
public response
prior commitment

Question 42

Why conform?

Answer 42

normative and informational influence

Question 43

who conforms?

Answer 43

personality
culture
social roles

Question 44

do we ever want to be different?

Answer 44

reactance

asserting uniqueness

Question 45

what paths lead to persuasion?

Answer 45

central route
peripheral route
different paths for different purposes

Question 46

what are the elements of persuasion?

Answer 46

who says? the communicator
credibility
attractiveness and liking
what is said? the message content
how is it said? the channel of communication
to whom is it said? the audience

Question 47

how do cults indoctrinate?

Answer 47

attitudes follow behavior (compliances breeds acceptance, foot-in-the-door)
persuasive elements (the communicator, the message, the audience)
group effects

Question 48

how can persuasion be resisted?

Answer 48

strengthening personal commitment
real-life applications: inoculation programs
implications of attitude inoculations

Question 49

how are we affected by the presence of others?

Answer 49

the mere presence of others
crowding: the presence of many others
why are we aroused in the presence of others?

Question 50

social loafing: do individuals exert less effort in a group?

Answer 50

many hands make light work

social loafing in everyday life

Question 51

deindividuation: when do people lose their sense of self in groups?

Answer 51

doing together what we wouldn’t do alone.

diminished self-awareness.

Question 52

group polarization: do groups intensify our opinions?

Answer 52

the case of the risky shift (group decisions are usually riskier, but individuals can also be risky).
do groups intensify opinions?
explaining polarization.

Question 53

Do groups promoted or hinder good decision?

Answer 53

symptoms of groupthink
critiquing groupthink
preventing groupthink
group problem solving

Question 54

how do individuals influence the group?

Answer 54

consistency
self-confidence
defections of the majority
is leadership a minority influence