Chapter 1 Of Textbook

Question 1

Until what year was homosexuality considered a mental illness?

Answer 1

1974

Question 2

Which president overturned the “don’t ask, don’t tell” ruling?

Answer 2

Barack Obama

Question 3

Social psychology

Answer 3

The scientific study of the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors of individuals in social situations

Question 4

T/F: We tend to like people who like us, and the people we like generally have attitudes and interests that are similar to ours

Answer 4

True

Question 5

What was the result of the Stanford prison experiment?

Answer 5

The “guards” began to verbally and physically abuse the “prisoners” and the study had to be terminated after 6 days.

Question 6

Who was the founder of modern social psychology?

Answer 6

Kurt Lewin

Question 7

T/F: Kurt Lewin believed that the behavior of people was unlike the behavior of objects, in that there is always a function of the field of forces in which they find themselves

Answer 7

False, he believed that the behavior of people was like the behavior of objects, in that there is always a function of the field of forces in which they find themselves

Question 8

What was the outcome of Milgram’s experiment?

Answer 8

They found that the situation was extraordinarily effective in getting the participants to do something that would normally fill them with horror.

Question 9

What was the conclusion made during the experiment conducted by Darley and Batson?

Answer 9

They found that religious orientation was of no use in predicting whether the seminarians would offer assistance to the man in help, but they did find that those who were not in a hurry stopped more frequently in comparison to those who were in a hurry.

Question 10

T/F: people are governed by situational factors

Answer 10

True

Question 11

Dispositions

Answer 11

Internal factors, such as beliefs, values, personality traits, and abilities, that guide a person’s behavior

Question 12

Fundamental attribution error

Answer 12

The failure to recognize the importance of situational influences on behavior, along with the corresponding tendency to overemphasize the importance of dispositions on behavior

Question 13

Channel factors

Answer 13

Helps explain why certain circumstances that appear unimportant on the surface can have great consequences for behavior, either facilitating it or blocking it

Question 14

Nudges

Answer 14

Small innocuous-seeming prompts that can have big effects on behavior

Question 15

What was the outcome of the study conducted by Howard Leventhal?

Answer 15

They found that giving college students a nudge to get a tetanus shot increased the percentage of students to get the shot ninefold, to 28 percent

Question 16

The nudge is central to what group of economists?

Answer 16

Behavioral economists

Question 17

Gestalt psychology

Answer 17

Based on the German word gestalt, meaning “form” or “figure,” an approach that stresses the fact that people perceive objects not by means of some automatic registering device but by active, usually non conscious interpretation of what the object represents as a whole

Question 18

Construal

Answer 18

One’s interpretation of or interference about the stimuli or situations that one confronts

Question 19

Schemas

Answer 19

A knowledge structure consisting of any organized body of stored information that is used to help in understanding events

Question 20

Stereotype

Answer 20

A belief that certain attributes are characteristic of members of a particular group

Question 21

Automatic processing

Answer 21

Non conscious, often based on emotional factors

Question 22

Controlled processing

Answer 22

Conscious and systematic and more likely to be controlled by deliberate thought

Question 23

T/F: conscious thought occurs before emotional reactions happen

Answer 23

False, emotional reactions happen before conscious thought takes over

Question 24

T/F: automatic processes give raise to implicit attitudes and beliefs while controlled processes results in explicit attitudes and beliefs

Answer 24

True

Question 25

What do we often use to form judgements about people?

Answer 25

Stereotypes

Question 26

Why does so much mental processing take place outside of our awareness?

Answer 26

It is a matter of efficiency, automatic processing is much faster compared to controlled processing

Question 27

Natural selection

Answer 27

An evolutionary process that molds animals and plants so that traits that enhance the probability of survival and reproduction are passed on to subsequent generations

Question 28

Can the evolutionary theory be helpful in explaining why people behave the way they do?

Answer 28

Yes, but not by itself. It has to be in combination with comparative biology, anthropological findings, and studies conducted by psychologists

Question 29

What institution are sexual jealousy and marriage examples of?

Answer 29

Sex, gender, and the family

Question 30

What institution are leaders and age statuses examples of?

Answer 30

Social differentiation

Question 31

What institution are hygienic care and gossip examples of?

Answer 31

Social customs

Question 32

What institution are envy and wariness around snakes examples of?

Answer 32

Emotion

Question 33

What institution are aesthetics and medicine examples of?

Answer 33

Cognition

Question 34

T/F: there is trying evidence to suggest that infants are born with their brain “prewired” to acquire language

Answer 34

True

Question 35

What emotions do humans and chimpanzees express in a similar way?

Answer 35

Dominance, submission, anger, and fear

Question 36

Theory of mind

Answer 36

The ability to recognize that other people and beliefs and desires

Question 37

What do individuals with autism have difficulties with?

Answer 37

Comprehending others’ desires or beliefs, including the fact that others’ beliefs might be false

Question 38

Parental investment

Answer 38

The evolutionary principle that costs and benefits are associated with reproduction and the nurturing of offspring. Because these costs and benefits are different for males and females, one gender will normally value and invest more in each child than will the other.

Question 39

Naturalistic fallacy

Answer 39

The claim that the way things are is the way they should be

Question 40

Social neuroscience

Answer 40

A new field focusing on the neural underpinnings of social behavior

Question 41

Amygdala

Answer 41

Involved in gut feelings, especially those of a fearful nature

Question 42

Nucleus accumbens (reward circuit)

Answer 42

Rich with dopamine receptors and projects to the prefrontal cortex, where we process complex thoughts and emotions.

Question 43

Neocortex

Answer 43

Consists of the layers of neurons on top of older regions of the brain, such as the amygdala

Question 44

T/F: cultural differences go far deeper than beliefs and values

Answer 44

True, they extend all the way to the level of fundamental forms of self-conception and social interaction and even to the perceptual and cognitive processes people use to develop new thoughts and beliefs

Question 45

Independent (Individualistic) culture

Answer 45

A culture in which people tend to think of themselves as distinct social entities, ties to each other by voluntary bonds of affection and organizational memberships but essentially separate from other people and having attributes that exist in the absence of any connection to others

Question 46

Interdependent (Collectivistic) cultures

Answer 46

A culture in which people tend to define themselves as part of a collective, inextricably tied to others in their group and placing less importance on individual freedom or personal control over their lives

Question 47

Familialism

Answer 47

A social value defined by interpersonal warmth, closeness, and support

Question 48

What group of people are greatly associated with familialism?

Answer 48

Hispanic/latino families

Question 49

What is one of the most variable aspects of gender roles?

Answer 49

Male dominance

Question 50

T/F: you only need to use good reasoning principles to understand the world

Answer 50

False, almost as important as having good reasoning principles is making sure that the information we are reasoning about is accurate.

Question 51

What is happiness?

Answer 51

A wealth of studies find that feeling happy is associated with greater marital satisfaction, heightened creativity and productivity, and more robust physical health

Question 52

Think about it: How does social psychology differ from related disciplines, like personality psychology and sociology? How might a social psychologist, in contrast to researchers in other disciplines, try to understand the atrocities at Abu Ghraib?

Answer 52

Social psychology can be defined as the scientific study of the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors of individuals in social situations. Whereas personality psychologists study individual differences in behavior and sociologists study aggregate patterns of behavior, social psychologists study the influence of social factors on behavior. When seeking to explain the atrocities at Abu Ghraib, a social psychologist might consider social pressures the abusive guards may have faced from higher-ups, rather than simply assuming that the guards were “bad apples.”

Question 53

Think about it: What does the Milgram experiment on obedience demonstrate about the power of the situation?
What features of the experimental situation might have increased the likelihood that participants would continue to shock the learner even after the learner showed signs of pain?

Answer 53

The Milgram experiment demonstrated that, given the right siruational factors, a majority of psychologically healthy adults were willing to continue shocking an innocent man even after he screamed and complained of a heart condition. Most of these participants were clearly not sadists, but rather were influenced by a powerful situation, which included the experimenter’s insistence thạt they continue with the shocks, the intimidating setting (a prestigious university), and perhaps even the lack of a clear schema for how to politely discontinue participation.

Question 54

Think about it: Why are schemas so important for social interaction? What is your schema for being a student in a classroom? What might happen if you didn’t have that schema?

Answer 54

To understand and navigate even the most seemingly simple social situations, like ordering food at a restaurant, we rely on complex systems of organized knowledge called schemas. A schema for being a student might consist of the expectation that a teacher will lead the class and thar students should sir quietly in their seats, take notes, observe the teacher, and speak only when called upon. Without this schema, a confusing, embarrassing situation might ensue.

Question 55

Think about it: When trying to understand people’s thoughts, feelings, and motivations, why don’t researchers just ask them? What does research on automatic versus controlled processing tell us alsout people’s awareness of their own mental states?

Answer 55

People tend to believe they have more conscious access to their mental processes than they really do. Research has shown that most mental processing happens nonconsciously—that is, outside of conscious awareness or control. For this reason, people’s self-reports of their beliefs and motivations are not always accurate.
Social psychology experiments can be designed in ways that tap into nonconscious processes.

Question 56

Think about it: How does evolution help explain social bchavior? Which types of behaviors seem most likely to be explained by evolution, and which ones seem less likely?

Answer 56

Evolution operates through natural selection, the process whereby animals and plants that possess adaptive traits are more likely to survive and reproduce and therefore pass on the genes that code for those traits to future generations. Many of the adaptive traits that humans almost universally possess, such as the capacity for language and the ability to form affectionate bonds, may have been shaped by nacural selection. Traits that vary across cultures and individuals, such as valuing individual accomplishments over group accomplishments, are less likely to be explained by evolutionary theory.

Question 57

Think about it: Are evolutionary and cultural explanations for behavior compatible? How might these two perspectives complement each other when it comes to explaining gender differences in mate selection?

Answer 57

Evolutionary and cultural explanations for behavior are generally not mutually exclusive; they work together to provide a more complete picture. Evolution has provided humans with a broad array of tools and propensities that can be either cultivated through cultural practices or set aside if they are not useful in a given ecological or economic context. For example, although evolutionary forces may predispose women to prefer mates who have ample resources to support a family, in countries where women have greater financial resources themselves, this preference may no longer be as relevant, and mate preferences may shift.