Social Psych Final Exam Study Guide

Question 1

Which of the following best defines social psychology?
a) the study of individuals within a society
b)the study of how people behave in social situations
c)the study of group dynamics and interactions
d)the study of individual personality traits

Answer 1

The study of how people behave in social situations (b)

Question 2

What is the fundamental attribution error?
a) overestimating the influence of internal factors and underestimating the influence of external factors when explaining others’ behavior.
b)underestimating the influence of internal factors and overestimating the influence of external factors when explaining others’ behavior
c) overestimating the influence of situational factors and underestimating the influence of dispositional factors when explaining one’s own behavior
d) underestimating the influence of situational factors and overestimating the influence of dispositional factors when explaining one’s own behavior

Answer 2

overestimating the influence of internal factors and underestimating the influence of external factors when explaining others’ behavior. (a)

Question 3

Naive realism refers to the fact that
a) most people are naive (uneducated) about psychology
b) few people are realistic
c) most people would rather be naive than accurate
d) most people believe they perceive things accurately

Answer 3

most people believe they perceive things accurately (d)

Question 4

The self-fulfilling prophecy is the reason that many people
a) love doomsday predictions
b) make a prophecy that they will fail their exams
c) create a prophecy that they will succeed on their exams
d) act in ways to make predictions of their own behavior or others’ come true

Answer 4

act in ways to make predictions of their own behavior or others’ come true. (d)

Question 5

Which of the following comments DO NOT illustrate the fundamental attribution error?
a) a man says, :my wife has sure become a grouchy person” but explains his own grouchiness as a result of having a hard day at work
b) a woman reads about high unemployment in poor communities and says “well if those people weren’t so lazy they would find work”
c) the people who committed suicide at Jonestown were socially isolated and therefore cut off from other points of view about their leader
d) the people who committed suicide at Jonestown were mentally ill

Answer 5

the people who committed suicide at Jonestown were socially isolated and therefore cut off from other points of view about their leader (c)

Question 6

what are TWO basic motives that influence the way we construe the world?
a) the need to feel that our opinions are right
b) the need to maintain high self-esteem
c) the need to feel superior to others
d) the need to be accurate in our perceptions and decisions
e) the need for self-expression

Answer 6

the need to maintain high self-esteem (b)
the need to be accurate in our perceptions and decisions (d)

Question 7

What does the “wall street Game” reveal about personality and situation?
a) competitive people will compete fiercely no matter what the game is called
b) cooperative people will try hard to get competitive opponents to work with them
c) the name of the game makes no difference in how people play the game
d) the name of the game strongly influences how people play the game

Answer 7

the name of the game strongly influences how people play the game (d)

Question 8

an example of social influence is
a) a teenager decides to wear the same style of clothing as their peers to fit in at school.
b) a student chooses a particular college major based solely on their own interests and aspirations
c) an individual selects a restaurant for dinner based on their personal preference without considering their friends’ opinions
d) all of the above

Answer 8

a teenager decides to wear the same style of clothing as their peers to fit in at school. (a)

Question 9

A stranger approaches Emily on campus and says she is a professional photographer. She asks if Emily will spend 15 minutes posing for pictures next to the student union. According to social psychologists, Emily’s decision will depend on which of the following?
a) how well dressed the woman is
b) whether the photographer offers to pay her
c) whether the photographer smells good
d) how Emily construes the situation

Answer 9

how Emily construes the situation (d)

Question 10

Which of the following is a primary advantage of using experiments in social psychology research?
a) they allow for the examination of cause-and-effect relationships
b) they provide rich descriptive data
c) they are less time-consuming than other research methods
d) they are more suitable for studying complex social phenomena

Answer 10

they allow for the examination of cause-and-effect relationships

Question 11

which research method is best suited for investigating the causal relationship between two variables in social psychology?
a) correlational study
b) experimental study
c) case study
d) observational study

Answer 11

experimental study (b)

Question 12

Often times, researchers formulate theories and hypotheses because
a) they are inspired by previous theories and research
b) they disagree with previous researchers’ interpretations of his or her study
c) they construct hypothesis and theories based on personal observations in everyday life
d) all of the above

Answer 12

all of the above (d)

Question 13

when thinking about the correlational method in research design, we say that “correlation does not equal causation”
a) true
b) false

Answer 13

true (a)

Question 14

If you wanted to test out the hypothesis that more people will bring umbrella withs them if it is cloudy outside, what type of research design would set up to test this hypothesis
a) experimental
b) observational
c) correlational
d) case study

Answer 14

observational (b)

Question 15

The observational method is best at answering which of these questions?
a) how polite are people in public places?
b) are people from the southern United States more polite in public places than people from the northern United States
c) what makes people act politely or rudely in public places?
d) does music played in department stores influence how polite people are in those stores?

Answer 15

how polite are people in public places? (a)

Question 16

Which of the following is the best way to increase external validity of a study?
a) conduct the study in a laboratory instead of the field
b) replicate the study with a different population of people in a different setting
c) make sure you have at least two dependent variables
d) make sure you have smart researchers conducting the study

Answer 16

b) replicate the study with a different population of people in a different setting

Question 17

The basic dilemma of the social psychologist is that
a) it is hard to teach social psychology to students because most people believe strongly in personality
b) there is trade off between internal and external validity in most experiments
c) it is nearly impossible to use a random selection of the population in laboratory experiments
d) almost all social behavior is influenced by the culture in which people grew up

Answer 17

there is a trade off between internal and external validity in most experiments (b)

Question 18

A researcher conducts a study with participants who are college students. the researcher then repeats the study using the same procedures but with members of the general population as participants. The results are similar for both samples. The research has established________through_________
a) external validity, replication
b) internal validity, replication
c) external validity, deception
d) replication, internal validity

Answer 18

external validity, replication (a)

Question 19

What is the term for the mental shortcuts people use to make judgements and decisions quickly?
a) social perception
b) social cognition
c) heuristics
d) cognitive dissonance

Answer 19

heuristics (c)

Question 20

Which of the following best defines social cognition?
a) the study of how individuals perceive, interpret, and remember information about themselves and others in social contexts
b) the process of understanding how physical attributes influence social interactions
c) the examination of societal norms and cultural values
d) the analysis of economic factors shaping social behavior

Answer 20

the study of how individuals perceive, interpret, and remember information about themselves and others in social contexts (a)

Question 21

the process of inferring the causes of people’s behavior is known as:
a) self-concept
b) social perception
c) social cognition
d) attribution

Answer 21

attribution (d)

Question 22

Which of the following would be an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy?
a) Bob thinks that members of the Alpha Beta Psi sorority are unfriendly and snobby. Whenever he meets members of this sorority, they are friendly toward him.
b) Sarah is worried that her son is not gifted in music, but he does better at his piano lessons than she expected.
c) Jill thinks her daughter is not a very good reader and doesn’t spend much time reading to her. As a result, her daughter falls behind in reading at school.
d) A teacher believes that boys are better at math than girls, but the boys in his class to worse than girls in math

Answer 22

Jill thinks her daughter is not a very good reader and doesn’t spend much time reading to her. As a result, her daughter falls behind in reading at school (c)

Question 23

Many people believe that their horoscopes are accurate descriptions of who they are and what is likely to happen to them because
a) Horoscopes are written in a vague way so that most people view them as representative of their personalities and past behaviors.
b) Horoscopes trigger automatic decision making
c) people find it difficult to bring to mind examples that are similar to the horoscope
d) horoscopes automatically prime people’s life goals

Answer 23

Horoscopes are written in a vague way so that most people view them as representative of their personalities and past behaviors. (a)

Question 24

Which is the definition of analytic thinking?
a) the type of thinking in which people focus on the overall context, particularly the ways in which objects relate to each other.
b) a type of thinking in which people focus on the properties of objects without considering their surrounding context
c) thinking that is conscious, intentional, voluntary, and effortful
d) thinking that is nonconscious, unintentional, involuntary, and effortless

Answer 24

a type of thinking in which people focus on the properties of objects without considering their surrounding context (b)

Question 25

Sam is playing a carnival game challenging him to guess which of the 20 cups is hiding the red ball. Unfortunately, he picked the cup directly to the left of the winning cup and did not win a prize. According to social psychology research, he is most likely to a) experience cognitive dissonance b) engage in counterfactual thinking c) blame his mistake on the noise of the crowd d) avoid similar games for the rest of his life

Answer 25

engage in counterfactual thinking (b)

Question 26

While controlled thinking is unconscious, effortless and unintentional; automatic thinking is conscious, effortful and intentional a) true b) false

Answer 26

false (b)

Question 27

Which of the following is true about schemas? a) schemas are an example of controlled thinking b) when people have an incorrect schema, rarely do they act in a way to make it come true c) although schemas can lead to errors, they are a very useful way of organizing information about the world and filling in gaps in our knowledge d) the schema we use in influenced only by what has been primed recently

Answer 27

although schemas can lead to errors, they are a very useful way of organizing information about the world and filling in gaps in our knowledge (c)

Question 28

Which of the following best defines social perception? a) the process of understanding and interpreting information about others within a social context b) the ability to perceive one's own emotions accurately c) the process of forming judgements based solely on physical appearance d) the tendency to underestimate the influence of situational factors on behavior

Answer 28

the process of understanding and interpreting information about others within a social context (a)

Question 29

Which of the following is an example of nonverbal communication that influences social perception? a) facial expressions b) written language c) taste in music d) educational background

Answer 29

facial expressions (a)

Question 30

Which of the following is NOT an example of one of our 6 basic emotions? a) happy b) fearful c) nervous d) sad e) proud

Answer 30

proud (e)

Question 31

Which of the following would NOT be an example(s) of internal attribution? a) after winning close to $100 playing poker, Fred explains that he's always been a very skilled gambler. b) Jessica blames her poor grade in her biology exam on the idea that she's never been good at taking multiple-choice exams c) George thinks that the reason his brother is never able to hold a steady job is that he's lazy and quick to get angry with others d) Michael says that the only reason for his recent car accident is that the road he was traveling on that day was wet from a recent rainfall

Answer 31

Michael says that the only reason for his recent car accident is that the road he was traveling on that day was wet from a recent rainfall (d)

Question 32

The two-step process of attribution suggests that a) people first make an internal attribution and then correct for situational influences b) people first make an external attribution and then correct for dispositional influences c) Americans are less likely than Europeans to commit that fundamental attribution error d) if the attribution process is disrupted at either step, no attribution will be made

Answer 32

people first make an internal attribution and then correct for situational influences (a)

Question 33

Explanations for one's success that credit internal, dispositional factors and explanations for one's failures that blame external, situational factors is a description of a) self-serving attribution b) fundamental attribution theory c) covariation theory d) self esteem model

Answer 33

self-serving attribution (a)

Question 34

Nonverbal communication often stop us from expressing our emotions, attitudes, and personalities to the outside world a) true b) false

Answer 34

false (b)

Question 35

Which is the best definition of an independent view of the self? a) defining oneself in terms of one's relationship to other people? b) defining oneself in terms of one's own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions? c) someone who enjoys activities such as dancing and team sports. d) someone who enjoys activities such as writing poetry and reading

Answer 35

defining oneself in terms of one's own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions? (b)

Question 36

which is the best definition of interdependent view of the self? a) defining oneself in terms of one's relationship to other people? b) defining oneself in terms of one's own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions? someone who enjoys activities such as dancing and team sports d) someone who enjoys activities such as writing poetry and reading

Answer 36

defining oneself in terms of one's relationship to other people? (a)

Question 37

Suppose your friend says, "If I get less than 8 hours of sleep, I'm in a terrible mood the next day." Based on research in social psychology, what is the best conclusion about her statement? a) she is probably right because people generally know why they feel the way they do b) she is probably wrong because people rarely know why they feel the way they do c) she is likely to be right only if she first made a list of all the reasons why she is in a good mood or bad mood on a typical day d) Her statement is probably based on causal theory that may or may not be true

Answer 37

her statement is probably based on causal theory that may or may not be true (d)

Question 38

According to self-perception theory, which of the following audience members would enjoy stand-up comedy show? a) David, who sat right in front of the flashing applause sign and noticed that he clapped every time the sign said to b) Steven, who noticed that he was laughing more than other people c) Zita, whose friends nudged her to get her to clap d) Joanne, who laughed a lot in order to make her friend Elanor happy

Answer 38

Steven, who notices that he was laughing more than other people (b)

Question 39

Edward is tempted to eat some of his roommates cookies even though his roommate asked him not to. Under which of the following conditions would Edward be most likely to resist the temptation to eat the cookies? a) It's the afternoon and Edward had a busy morning. b) Edward believes that will power is fixed resource and that people have a limited amount of it. c) Edward went to the gym that morning and had a good workout d) Edward had spent a few minutes praying earlier that day

Answer 39

Edward had spent a few minutes praying earlier that day (d)

Question 40

Which of the following is most true about self-esteem? a) It's good to have low self-esteem because that motivates people to improve b) In general, women have lower self-esteem than men c) People who are optimistic try harder, persevere more in the face of failure, and set higher goals than do people who are not d) the higher a person's self-esteem, the better off her or she is

Answer 40

people who are optimistic try harder, persevere more in the face of failure, and set higher goals than do people who are not (c)

Question 41

Which of the following is NOT a function of the self? a) self-knowledge b) self-control c) impression management d) self-criticism

Answer 41

self-criticism (d)

Question 42

Your good friend is interning at a law firm. When you ask how it's going, they say, "I'm feeling good about it because I'm doing much better than the intern who started a month after me." What kind of social comparison is your friend making? a) upward social comparison b) downward social comparison c) impression comparison d) self-knowledge comparison

Answer 42

downward social comparison (b)

Question 43

Fred has been accepted to two top graduate schools. Under which condition will he experience the most dissonance? a) When he is thinking about the pros and cons of both programs before making up his mind. b) When he is pretty sure which program he wants to attend but has not yet notified the school of his decision c) Right after he decides which program to attend and notifies the school of his decision. d) Fred will experience an equal amount of dissonance in each of the above three scenarios

Answer 43

Right after he decides which program to attend and notifies the school of his decision (c)

Question 44

Which of the following individuals is likely to experience the greatest dissonance? a) a soldier who kills a civilian b) a gang member who kills a member of a competing gang c) a soldier who kills 3 enemy troops d) a hit man who kills a stranger for money

Answer 44

a soldier who kills a civilian (a)

Question 45

Which of the following people is most likely to be able to admit a major mistake? a) a prosecutor, because he or she is trained to pursue justice at all costs. b) a political leader, because otherwise he or she would be votes out of office c) A member of a religious sect, because he or she can leave at any time d) all of the above will find it hard to admit having been wrong e) none of the above people would have a hard time admitting being wrong about something

Answer 45

All of the above will find it hard to admit having been wrong (d)

Question 46

Jake's professor tells Jake that if he is caught cheating on an exam, he will be expelled. Amanda's professor tells her that if she is caught cheating, she will have only to write a short paper about why cheating is wrong. If both students don't cheat, dissonance theory would predict that: a) Amanda will feel more honest than Jake will feel b) Jake will feel more honest than Amanda will feel c) Amanda and Jake will feel equally honest d) Amanda and Jake will feel equally dishonest because both were threated in advance

Answer 46

Amanda will feel more honest than Jake will feel (a)

Question 47

When you increase your liking of something that you worked harder to attain that is known as: a) counterfactual advocacy b) justification of effort c) self-persuasion d) induction theory

Answer 47

justification of effort (b)

Question 48

Who is likely to feel the greatest dissonance after making a huge mistake? a) a person with high self-esteem b) a person with low self-esteem c) a psychopath d) a narcissist

Answer 48

a person with high self-esteem (a)

Question 49

A large reward which leads to external justification often produces long lasting results in behavior changes a) true b) false

Answer 49

false (b)

Question 50

A small reward which leads to internal justification often produces long lasting results in behavior changes a) true b) false

Answer 50

true (a)

Question 51

Which of the following conclusion is the most consistent with research on the heritability of attitudes? a) attitudes are inherited and dictated by our genetic makeup, with little influence from environmental factors b) attitudes are shaped by our surroundings and do not seem to have any genetic component to them c) we often inherit temperament and/or personality that leads us likely to develop similar attitudes to those held by our genetic relatives d) identical twins are just as likely to share attitudes as fraternal twins

Answer 51

we often inherit temperament and/or personality that leads us likely to develop similar attitudes to those held by our genetic relatives (c)

Question 52

Attitudes are described as: a) when behaviors we freely choose to perform become more or less frequent depending on whether they are followed by a reward or punishment b) our evaluations of people, objects, and ideas c) ideas that are based on observations on how one behaves towards an object d) persuasive messages that attempt to change peoples minds about an idea

Answer 52

our evaluations of people, objects, and ideas (b)

Question 53

Which component of an attitude is most related to the process of examining facts and weighing the objective merits of a target or idea? a) affective b) behavioral c) cognitive d) operant

Answer 53

cognitive (c)

Question 54

Attitude accessibility is a good predictor of behavior when: a) the behavior in question is spontaneous b) the behavior in question is deliberate c) the attitude in question is general d) the attitude in question is an unpopular one

Answer 54

the behavior in question is spontaneous (a)

Question 55

In trying to predict deliberate behaviors, what three components must we evaluate? a) attitude accessibility, explicit attitudes, implicit attitudes b) classical conditioning, operant conditioning, self-perception theory c) attitude specificity, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control d) cognitively based attitudes, behaviorally based attitudes, affectively based attitudes

Answer 55

attitude specificity, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control (c)

Question 56

Which of the following is NOT one of the three factors considered by the Yale Attitude Change approach? a) Nature of the Audience b) fear c) message source d) Nature of the communication itself

Answer 56

fear (b)

Question 57

The physical attractiveness of the source of a persuasive communication would be best described as which of the following? a) systematic cue b) central cue c) peripheral cue d) rational cue

Answer 57

peripheral cue (c)

Question 58

Fear arousing persuasive communication is most likely to be effective when a) very high levels of fear are induced b) very low levels of fear are induced c) a plan for reducing the fear is provided d) all of the above

Answer 58

a plan for reducing the fear is provided (c)

Question 59

The best way for an advertisement to change an affectively based attitude is to use a ____appeal a) cognitive b) behavioral c) affective d) fact-filled

Answer 59

affective (c)

Question 60

Which of the following is the best explanation for why product placement can be effective at changing attitudes? a) it tends to operate via the central route to persuasion b) the audience is often unaware that an effort at attitude change is occurring c)it usually leads to a reactance response d) cognitively based efforts at persuasion tend to have longer lasting effects

Answer 60

the audience is often unaware that an effort at attitude change is occurring (b)

Question 61

All of the following are true about attitudes EXCEPT one. Which one is false? a) under the right conditions attitudes predict people's behavior b) attitudes can be changes with persuasive communication c) attitudes rarely change over time d) attitudes are related to our temperament and personality

Answer 61

attitudes rarely change over time (c)

Question 62

Conformity always includes a) positive and moral behaviors b) negative and immoral behaviors c) the real or imagined influence of other people d) an authority figure

Answer 62

the real or imagined influence of other people (c)

Question 63

Informational social influence occurs a) when we believe that other people's reactions can help us arrive at an accurate reading of a situation b) through public but not private conformity c) only in a crisis d) none of the above

Answer 63

when we believe that other people's reactions can help us arrive at an accurate reading of a situation (a)

Question 64

Informational social influence is most likely to occur when a) a situation is a crisis but also unambiguous b) the other people around are experts and the situation is ambiguous c) the other people around are not experts and the situations is not a crisis d) a situation is unambiguous and not a crisis

Answer 64

the other people around are experts and the situation is ambiguous (b)

Question 65

Which of the following components is NOT considered when discussing the Social Impact Theory? a) Strength b) Justice c) Immediacy d) Number

Answer 65

Justice (b)

Question 66

An important key to minority influence is a) a normative social pressure b) immediacy c) creativity d) consistency

Answer 66

consistency (d)

Question 67

Societal rules regarding acceptable behavior are known as a) contagion b) convergence c) social norms d) social influence

Answer 67

social norms (c)

Question 68

Which of the following was a goal of Milgram's obedience research? a) to identify the abnormal personality characteristics associated with sadistic behaviors b) to justify and exonerate the behaviors linked to genocide and other inhuman acts c) to better understand social forces that contribute to destructive and immoral behaviors d) to identify cultural differences in aggression

Answer 68

to better understand social forces that contribute to destructive and immoral behaviors (c)