Chapter 13

Question 1

compliance vs. obedience

Answer 1

• compliance: listening to someone with no authority (more likely in people we have relationships with)
• obedience: listening to someone of authority

Question 2

biological and environmental factors for aggression

Answer 2

biological factors

• genetics
• sex
• testosterone levels

environmental factors

• culture
• societal expectations

Question 3

self-serving bias

Answer 3

attributing success to dispositional factors, but attributing failures to situational factors

Question 4

the Capilano Bridge experiment and its significance

Answer 4

The Capilano Bridge is a scary bridge that is high up and sways. A single confederate woman asked single men as they passed by if they would participate in her research, and gave out her number to said men. Men who were on the bridge were more likely to contact her than men who weren’t.

This experiment provides evidence that the psychological arousal of being fearful of the bridge made men feel more attracted/connected to her.

Question 5

in-groups

Answer 5

collections of people who often cooperate together, due to having something in common (e.g. families, teams, religions, ethnicities)

Question 6

cooperation and competition both serve this same purpose

Answer 6

survival

Question 7

actor-observer bias

Answer 7

using dispositional attributions to explain others’ behaviours, but situational attributions to explain your own (e.g. “She failed because she’s dumb, but I failed because I’m sick.”)

Question 8

Lepper’s marker experiment and its significance

Answer 8

Children were divided into two groups: one group in which children were given a prize for drawing, and one group where children could draw but were given no prize. The next day, children who weren’t given a prize continued to draw, but children who were given a prize were less likely to draw.

This is significant because it demonstrates that the hedonic principle with rewards can backfire. When a behaviour is already intrinsically motivated, the addition of a prize can make it extrinsically motivate (i.e. the children now expect a prize for doing something they already like doing).

Question 9

the impact of experience with diversity on group biases

Answer 9

increased experience with diversity decreases group biases (e.g. white students with Black teachers are less likely to show discrimination to Black people)

Question 10

the just-world belief

Answer 10

the assumption that good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people

Question 11

the prisoner’s dilemma

Answer 11

You and your friend are arrested, but the police have limited evidence against you. Without being able to communicate with your partner, you are given the choice to confess or to remain silent. If you both remain silent, you will each be sentenced to one year. If you both confess, you will each receive ten years. However, if one confesses and the other remains silent, the prisoner who confesses will be set free, and the silent prisoner will receive a 20-year sentence.

This is a classic model of competition and cooperation. Cooperation is moderately rewarded (a one-year sentence), while competition is punished (ten years). If only one of you confesses, however, the confessor is highly rewarded (freedom), while the other person is severely punished (20 years).

Question 12

why humans can be truly altruistic

Answer 12

we have a really advanced prefrontal cortex

Question 13

the Implicit Association Test

Answer 13

• measures biases that we are unable (not unwilling) to report ourselves
• you categorize words into groups as quickly as possible
• you’ll categorize words slower and less accurately if it doesn’t match implicit biases

Question 14

the onset of human biases

Answer 14

• prejudice and discrimination is deeply engrained in human evolution
• present in non-human primates
• arises early in childhood

Question 15

social psychology

Answer 15

the study of the causes and consequences of being social

Question 16

social influence

Answer 16

the attempt to influence others

Question 17

five types of aggression

Answer 17

• instrumental aggression: physical harm to obtain a goal (e.g. attacking someone to steal a wallet)
• relational aggression: harming one’s social standing (e.g. gossiping)
• defensive aggression: harming out of self-defence
• passive aggression: expressing hostility indirectly
• maternal aggression: unwanted offspring are killed

Question 18

why some cultures are more aggressive than others

Answer 18

the frustration-aggression hypothesis: socioeconomic inequality (scarcity of resources)

Question 19

the frustration-aggression hypothesis

Answer 19

• animals are aggressive when their desires are frustrated (i.e. scarcity of resources)
• e.g. Animal A frustrates Animal B’s desire for food, so Animal B attacks Animal A.

Question 20

correspondence bias

Answer 20

assuming someone’s behaviour is due to their personal qualities, even when we know the situation has a powerful effect (e.g. saying someone isn’t smart because they failed the test, while knowing it’s a hard class)

Question 21

confederate

Answer 21

someone who acts as a participant of an experiment, but is actually a researcher

Question 22

four things that could affect Asch’s conformity study

Answer 22

• group biases (i.e. if the confederates are similar/different to the participant)
• personality: participants with low levels of agreeableness are more authoratative
• body language (i.e. confident/anxious confederates)
• the number of confederates that choose incorrectly (the more confederates that choose incorrectly, the more likely the participant will choose incorrectly as well)

Question 23

the approval motivation and examples of it and social influence

Answer 23

• we want other people to like us
• we conform to norms (normative influence) because it makes us more likeable (e.g. not yelling in a restaurant)

Question 24

attitude formation

Answer 24

• we often adopt attitudes of others to feel socially included
• attitudes have some genetic predisposition

Question 25

experiment on infant/children preferences

Answer 25

* **5-6 month olds** looked more at native speakers, than non-native speakers * **10 month olds** were more likely to take a toy from native speaker, than non-native speakers when offered * **5 year olds** would rather be friends with a native speaker their age, than a non-native speaker their age

Question 26

two reasons researchers think the frustration-aggression hypothesis is too narrow

Answer 26

* humans can aggress when feeling negative emotions or pain * seasonal variation in aggression (higher in summer in the Northern hemisphere)

Question 27

three compliance persuasion techniques

Answer 27

* **door-in-the-face:** a large, unreasonable demand is followed by a smaller, more reasonable demand, making the smaller demand more likely (e.g. "Donate a large amount... Give what you can.") * **foot-in-the-door:** a small demand is followed by a larger demand that may have been originally rejected, making the larger demand more likely (e.g. liking an Instagram post leads to product advertisements * **low-balling:** making further demands to someone who has already committed to a course of action, to appeal to consistency (e.g. a car dealer leaving to check the deal with their supervisor and coming back with extra charges, to someone who's already publicly stated they want to buy the car; the person buying the car doesn't want to go back on their word)

Question 28

three types of attraction

Answer 28

* physical attraction * situation attraction * psychological attraction

Question 29

two types of attributions

Answer 29

* **dispositional attribution:** a judgment assigning the cause of a person’s behaviour to personal qualities or characteristics (e.g. failed the test because of *anxiety*) * **situational attribution:** a judgment assigning the cause of a person’s behaviour to the environment (e.g. failed the test because a *break up* distracted her)

Question 30

the two greatest predictors of an individual's level of aggression

Answer 30

* immediate family members that are aggressive (genetic predisposition) * sex

Question 31

attitude

Answer 31

a positive or negative evaluation that predisposes behaviour toward an object, person, or situation

Question 32

Asch's conformity study and its significance

Answer 32

Participants sat in a room with seven other confederates, and were asked to complete an easy task (picking the line of the correct length that matched); everyone answered correctly for the first two trials. For the last trial, the real participant answered last, with the other confederates answering incorrectly first. 75% of the real participants answered incorrectly, even though they knew the obvious answer. This is significance because it demonstrates that we often conform to others' behaviours (the normative influence).

Question 33

altruism

Answer 33

behaviour that reduces one's fitness in order to increase another's fitness

Question 34

bystander intervention

Answer 34

the more bystanders there are, the less likely someone will help a stranger

Question 35

prejudice

Answer 35

* judgments made before meeting individuals * often positive prejudice (positive assumptions) to in-groups and negative prejudice (negative assumptions) to out-groups

Question 36

physical attraction

Answer 36

* the most powerful *initial* factor in picking a sexual partner * beauty is universally beneficial, but not universal (being beautiful carries benefits everywhere, but doesn't look the same everywhere (e.g. some African and Middle Eastern cultures prefer overweight women))

Question 37

group cognition

Answer 37

group decision-making

Question 38

The social behaviours of animals are typically governed by...

Answer 38

resource availability

Question 39

biological factors for sexual selection in humans

Answer 39

* sperm/egg count * physical requirements * pregnancy changes * females reproduce once a year; males reproduce constantly

Question 40

four examples of ultrasocial species

Answer 40

* ants * bees * termites * mole rats

Question 41

reasons why the correspondence bias occurs

Answer 41

* **the stability of personality traits:** the "You did it, because that's the kind of person you are" explanation * **a lack of awareness of the power of the situation**

Question 42

two motivations used for social influence

Answer 42

* the hedonic motivation * the approval motivation

Question 43

situational attraction

Answer 43

* the greatest *overall* factor in picking a sexual partner * **the mere exposure effect:** becoming attracted to someone you see a lot * attraction increases in psychologically arousing situations (e.g. fear)

Question 44

implicit biases (or unexamined beliefs)

Answer 44

group biases that we are unaware of

Question 45

aggression

Answer 45

behaviour with the purpose of harming one another

Question 46

the impact of testosterone on aggression

Answer 46

testosterone decreases fear analysis and makes people less afraid to retaliate * males are significantly more aggressive than females * younger males (with higher levels of testosterone) are more aggressive * females with higher levels of testosterone are more aggressive

Question 47

four problematic patterns of group cognition

Answer 47

* **group polarization:** making more extreme decisions (e.g. individual jurors often want softer punishments than a riled up grand jury) * **groupthink:** reaching a consensus too quickly, agreeing is easier than disagreeing * **diffusion of responsibility:** worse decisions often made due to less responsibility for your actions when with others as opposed to yourself, "mob mentality" * **common knowledge effect:** only talking about information everybody knows, no new information inputted

Question 48

social facilitation

Answer 48

* the presence of other people changes individual performance * can be positive (e.g. practicing best with a team) or negative (e.g. choking during a performance)

Question 49

the tit-for-tat (TFT) strategy

Answer 49

you make cooperation your first move, and then repeat your partner’s successive moves * it is **nice** (cooperation first) * allows for **retaliation** (competition after your partner competes) * allows for **forgiveness** (cooperation after your partner cooperates

Question 50

the sex that is the most sexually selective, and why

Answer 50

**Women** are more sexually selective than men because... * reproduction costs more to a woman * societal pressures (reputations of promsicuity, women are approached more)

Question 51

social loafing

Answer 51

reaping the benefits of cooperation without putting in the same effort (e.g. certain group members carrying a project)

Question 52

ultrasocial species

Answer 52

species that form large societies, divide labour, cooperate, and have food management systems (e.g. agriculture)

Question 53

cognitive dissonance

Answer 53

* the uncomfortable state that occurs when behaviour and attitudes don't match * can be resolved through attitude change (e.g. thinking about the cons of a decision you didn't make, thinking about the pros of a decision you did make)

Question 54

cooperation vs. competition

Answer 54

* **cooperation** is working together toward a common goal * **competition** is working against one another to obtain limited resources

Question 55

discrimination

Answer 55

* unequal treatment/sharing * often positive discrimination (better treatment) to in-groups, and negative discrimination (worse treatment) to out-groups

Question 56

attributions

Answer 56

judgments about the cause of a person's behaviour

Question 57

the hedonic motivation and examples of it and social influence

Answer 57

hedonic motivation is the attraction to pleasure and aversion to pain EXAMPLES: * **bonuses** at work/school are given as awards to promote good behaviour (attraction to pleasure) * people listen to the government because they don't want to be punished with **fines/jail sentences** (aversion to pain)

Question 58

two examples of altruistic-like behaviours in non-human animals

Answer 58

* **kin selection:** extending altruistic behaviour to related individuals, to increase the likelihood that one's genetic material will be passed on * **reciprocation:** extending altruistic behaviour with the expectation that the favour will be returned (e.g. protection, mating) Both of these are not true forms of altruism.

Question 59

Humans are considered ultrasocial because...

Answer 59

they demonstrate most (**but, not all**) ultrasocial characteristics

Question 60

fundamental attribution error (FAE)

Answer 60

when people completely ignore situational variables when making attributions

Question 61

intragender competition and sexual selection

Answer 61

when more of the same gender are present, that gender tends to be less selective (e.g. if more men are present, men will be less picky when picking a woman)

Question 62

psychological attraction

Answer 62

the more similar to ourselves, the more attracted we feel (i.e. education levels, religion, socioeconomic status, personality)