A1.1.2 Social Psychology

Question 1

Which of the following statements does not reduce cognitive dissonance in a cocaine user?

Select one:
“I have more chances of dying when crossing a road than injecting cocaine”
“Smoking is worse killer than cocaine use”
“Alcohol affects the whole body while cocaine is not that bad”
“I like cocaine very much”
“Even Freud used cocaine in those days, there must be something good about it”.

Answer 1

‘I like cocaine very much’ is likely to increase not decrease the dissonance.

The correct answer is: “I like cocaine very much”

Question 2

At what age do children pass the mirror test?

Select one:
6 Months of age
9 Months of age
3 Months of age
18 months of age
12 Months of age

Answer 2

Mirror test- A test for self-recognition in which the child using its mirror image to touch a dot on its nose is achieved at 18 months of age.

The correct answer is: 18 months of age

Question 3

Which of the following increases the effectiveness of a persuasive communication?

Select one:
Mass media communication
High intensity urging
A credible communicator
High receiver intelligence
High cognitive dissonance

Answer 3

Carl Hovland, at Yale University, studied various factors affecting persuasion.The credibility of a perceived message is a crucial factor in persuasion (Hovland and Weiss, 1951); a health report is more persuasive if it is published in a professional medical journal, than in a tabloid.

The correct answer is: A credible communicator

Question 4

Which of the following describes a self-serving bias?

Select one:
A person attributes other people’s behaviour to internal sources
A person attributes other people’s behaviour to external sources
A person attributes successes to external sources
A person attributes successes to internal sources
A person attributes failures to internal sources

Answer 4

Self-serving bias- people show a strong bias towards attributing their success to internal causes while attributing failures to situational causes.

The correct answer is: A person attributes successes to internal sources

Question 5

Dissonance is decreased by

Select one:
Expectation of unpleasant consequences of behaviour towards others.
Adding new cognitions
Awareness of responsibility for consequences
Low pressure to comply
Increased choice of options

Answer 5

Festinger proposed the cognitive dissonance theory in 1957. Individuals strive for consistency in their attitudes with discomfort or dissonance arising if two cognitions are held that are inconsistent. Dissonance is increased by A. Low pressure to comply; B. Wide perceived choice of options C. Awareness of responsibility for consequences D. Unpleasant consequences for others. Dissonance is lowered if the behaviour is altered; cognitions are dismissed, and new cognitions are added.

The correct answer is: Adding new cognitions

Question 6

Which of the following is true concerning primate psychology?

Select one:
Aggressive male baboons have longer life expectancy
Aggression is higher during periods of instability
Young baboons learn appropriate expression of aggression by observing their peers
Low ranking baboons are not aggressive
Among baboons, females are not aggressive

Answer 6

During periods of instability such as rank transition, baboons show higher levels of aggression. This leads to high cortisol levels and stress among the animals.

The correct answer is: Aggression is higher during periods of instability

Question 7

Which of the following is most likely to influence individuals to conform to the views of the group?

Select one:
Other individuals being friends
Older individuals
Individuals feel accepted by the group
Large group size
Ambiguous tasks

Answer 7

Ambiguous tasks tend to lead to more conformity as people may feel less certain of their own ideas.

The correct answer is: Ambiguous tasks

Question 8

Which of the following correctly describes fundamental attribution error?

Select one:
Refusing to accept one’s own errors
Denying the fundamental flaws behind one’s own negative behaviour
Attributing others mistakes to the context in which the mistakes occur
Attributing one’s own mistakes to one’s character and personality
Attributing others mistakes to their personal dispositions

Answer 8

Fundamental Attribution Error refers to overestimating dispositional factors and not situational factors while attributing causes to other’s behaviours. This allows a sense of predictability to be developed about the other person. It is more pronounced if the attributed behaviour is negative and undesirable.

The correct answer is: Attributing others mistakes to their personal dispositions

Question 9

The theory of mind is not well developed in which of the following disorders?

Select one:
All of the above
Anxiety disorders
Psychosomatic disorders
Depressive disorders
Autistic spectrum disorders

Answer 9

Theory of mind: An understanding that other people possess mental states that involve ideas and views of the world that are different from our own. Children typically develop the theory of mind around four years of age. This ability has been implicated to be absent in autistic disorder. Many of the difficulties experienced by children with autism such as communication and interpersonal difficulties might be explained in terms of an absence of the theory of mind.

The correct answer is: Autistic spectrum disorders

Question 10

The first aspect of self-concept to develop is the

Select one:
Self actualisation
Self efficacy
Self image
Self esteem
Bodily self

Answer 10

Bodily self-refers to the ability to differentiate one’s own body from that of others.

The correct answer is: Bodily self

Question 11

The cognitive dissonance is;

Select one:
Is a type of plea
Phenomenon of group think
Caused by inconsistent cognitions
Inhibits problem solving
Form of thought disorder

Answer 11

The principle of cognitive consistency is the focus of Festinger’s (1957) theory of cognitive dissonance. This theory starts from the idea that we seek consistency in our beliefs and attitudes in any situation where two cognitions are inconsistent.

The correct answer is: Caused by inconsistent cognitions

Question 12

The individual behaviour of group members is less important than that of the whole group?. What is this concept called?

Select one:
Group think
Sociogram
Deindividuation
Risky shift phenomenon
Polarization

Answer 12

The individual behaviour of group members is less important than that of the whole group. This is called deindividuation. It is a process where people lose their sense of socialised individual identity and resort to unsocialized and antisocial behaviours. People normally refrain from acting in an aggressive and selfish manner in part because they are easily identifiable in societies that have strong norms against such uncivilised behaviour. In certain situations such as in crowds, these restraints are relaxed, and people may engage in antisocial behaviour (e.g. the Tottenham violence August 2011). The larger the group, the greater the anonymity and the greater the difficulty in identifying a single individual. But in polarization, when individuals express their opinions separately and then group to decide upon the same matter the eventual outcome is likely to be more extreme than that of the group average. Risky shift phenomenon: people tend to make riskier decisions when working as members of a group than they would make when making the same decision as individuals. Groupthink is the desire to achieve consensus and avoid dissent in group decisions. Sociogram developed by Moreno is a graphical representation of relationships in a group.

The correct answer is: Deindividuation

Question 13

An individual’s tendency of not to intervene in a help-seeking situation where others are present is known as

Select one:
Diffusion of responsibility
Persuasion
Bystander intervention
Obedience
Pluralistic ignorance

Answer 13

Diffusion of responsibility: people feel that the responsibility is not theirs, and someone else will do something. In pluralistic ignorance, members of a group convince each other that there is no problem that requires intervention.

The correct answer is: Diffusion of responsibility

Question 14

Which of the following is a behavioural component of Allport’s concept of prejudice? (Nov 2009)

Select one:
Circumlocution
Stereotype
Discrimination
Moral attack
Hostility

Answer 14

Prejudice is essentially an attitude. Hence, it has 1. Cognitive component - stereotypes; 2. Affective component - hostility; 3. Behavioural component - which according to Allport can be Anti-locution, avoidance, discrimination. physical attack or extermination in terms of increasing severity.

The correct answer is: Discrimination

Question 15

In a small group situation, departures from norms are most likely to be tolerated if

Select one:
The setting is private
Presence of strong group leadership
The norms were stated frequently during previous meetings
Dissent comes from a member with strong credentials
A consensus was reached before the dissent was expressed

Answer 15

Group members may wish to ignore a norm if it is burdensome or a source of punishment. Norm rejection is more easily achieved in the absence of enforcement and more readily tolerated if the rejecting member possesses strengths and abilities needed by the group. A norm that has been frequently and clearly stated is more difficult to avoid because members cannot then claim ignorance or misinterpretation. The threat of censure or punishment is a strong deter- rent to violation of group norms, especially if the group is very cohesive and if the setting is one of privacy.

The correct answer is: Dissent comes from a member with strong credentials

Question 16

Aggression is a consequence of frustration’- Who proposed this hypothesis?

Select one:
The cue hypothesis of aggression
Lazarus and Folkman
Dollard's frustration-aggression hypothesis
Friedman and Rosenman
Lorenz ethological studies

Answer 16

According to Lorenz, aggression in nonhumans is essentially destructive and is characterised by ritualisation and appeasement. But in humans it is basically destructive and has become distorted. According to Berkowitz, aggressive-cue hypothesis frustration provokes anger, not aggression. For this anger to be expressed as aggression, certain environmental cues are needed.

The correct answer is: Dollard’s frustration-aggression hypothesis

Question 17

A patient who feels unhappy with respect to one aspect of his life soon observes that this affects several other aspects of his life, turning his mood to a miserable one. This cognitive bias is called

Select one:
Domino effect
Recall bias
Stockholm effect
Hawthorne effect
Attributional fallacy

Answer 17

Domino effect is the psychological equivalent of the butterfly effect in chaos theory. According to this notion, large changes in a later state are dependent on the initial conditions in which a small change can result in a large catastrophe.

The correct answer is: Domino effect

Question 18

The attributional bias seen in persecutory delusions are

Select one:
Internal attribution for positive events
Internal attribution for negative events
External attribution for negative events
Internal attribution for all events
External attribution for positive events

Answer 18

It has been proposed that individuals with persecutory delusions make excessive external attributions of the cause for negative events. It remains unclear from empirical research findings whether the externalizing bias is also common to other psychotic symptom presentations.

The correct answer is: External attribution for negative events

Question 19

The term ‘cognitive dissonance’ was coined by

Select one:
McClelland
Schacter
Festinger
Beck
Bard

Answer 19

Festinger coined the term ‘cognitive dissonance’.

The correct answer is: Festinger

Question 20

The Likert scale consists of

Select one:
Three responses to each statement
Four responses to each statement
Five responses to each statement
Six responses to each statement
Seven responses to each statement

Answer 20

The Likert scale consists of five responses to each statement- Agree/disagree on a five-point scale. These are quick to design, but they are relatively sensitive. The Thurston scale has equal intervals between successive points on the scale. A range of statements is presented, and you tick those you agree with.

The correct answer is: Five responses to each statement

Question 21

In a social psychology study, the subjects were told that writer’s attitudes were determined by a coin toss. Despite this, the subjects rated writers who spoke in favour of a subject as having on average a more positive attitude towards the subject than those who spoke against it. Which of the following does this indicate?

Select one:
Pygmalion effect
Actor-observer bias
Just world phenomenon
Fundamental attribution error
Hawthorne effect

Answer 21

We tend to explain behavior in terms of internal disposition, such as personality traits, abilities, motives, etc. as opposed to external situational factors - this is called as Fundamental Attribution Error.

The correct answer is: Fundamental attribution error

Question 22

Several people at a train station see an elderly man asking for help. None of the onlookers offer to help. This is explained by

Select one:
Group think
Halo effect
Risky shift phenomenon
Genovese effect
Group polarization

Answer 22

When alone, individuals will typically intervene if another person is in need of help: this is called bystander intervention. But intervention becomes less likely to an extent that no single person will intervene from a crowd or group of observers when someone is in need of help. This is called bystander apathy or Genovese effect.

The correct answer is: Genovese effect

Question 23

In self-rated scales, a patient who has experienced difficulties in one domain may fail to recognize and rate his significant improvement in other domains. This effect is called

Select one:
Drift effect
Stockholm effect
Domino effect
Hawthorne effect
Halo effect

Answer 23

The halo effect refers to a cognitive bias whereby the perception of a particular trait is influenced by the perception of the former traits in a sequence of interpretations (Halo effect - Psychology Wiki, http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Halo_effect).

The correct answer is: Halo effect

Question 24

If a person’s performance of a task is influenced by test procedures used, this is called

Select one:
Hawthorne effect
Halo effect
Pygmalion effect
Practice effect
Barnham effect

Answer 24

The Hawthorne effect in psychology refers to the tendency of some people to work harder and perform better when they are a part of an experiment. This is because of the fact that individuals often change their behavior simply due to the attention they are receiving from researchers.

The correct answer is: Hawthorne effect
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Question 25

Which of the following accurately reflects instrumental aggression?

Select one:
It is often impulsive
It is carried out using destructive weapons
It is often planned
It is motivated by negative feelings
It is often purposeless

Answer 25

Instrumental aggression is carried out for the purpose of achieving a particular goal, e.g., kidnapping for ransom. Hence, it is often planned and not impulsive. Hostile (also called angry or affective) aggression is motivated by the need to express negative feelings, such as anger.

The correct answer is: It is often planned

Question 26

Task completion is poor in which of the following types of leadership?

Select one:
Democratic leaderships
Autocratic leadership style
Controlling
Rigid
Laissez-faire leadership

Answer 26

Successful leadership is determined both by the characteristics of the leader and the characteristics of the situation. This is known as contingency theory of leadership. Autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire are leadership types proposed by Lewin. Productivity is higher in laissez-faire leadership than in autocratic leadership. Task completion is good in autocratic and democratic leaderships but poor in groups led by a leader with laissez-faire style.

The correct answer is: Laissez-faire leadership

Question 27

Vulnerability to conform with the group is more in those that are

Select one:
Less intelligent
Self-reliant
Expressive.
Socially able
Intelligent

Answer 27

Conformity refers to the normative social influence that makes an individual to agree with the group view despite holding a different personal view. Experiments by Asch using a line length judging task in a group setting explained various features of conformity seen in social settings. Conformity increases with group number (maximum effect with three) and the perceived high status of other group members. Less intelligent members conform more than those with higher IQ. The presence of dissent in the group reduces conformity.

The correct answer is: Less intelligent

Question 28

The vulnerability to conform is greater in individuals with which of the following characteristic features?

Select one:
Socially able
Naive
Very expressive
Highly intelligent
Self reliant

Answer 28

People of high status more likely to induce conformity while people of low status more likely to conform. Conformity increases with increasing group size, but after five people the effect diminishes. People who are naive are more likely to conform, especially to members of their own group and less likely to conform to members of another group.

The correct answer is: Naive

Question 29

Which of the following is considered to be a factor of social influence when a group makes a polarized decision?

Select one:
Normative influence
Summative influence
Disintegrative influence
Authoritative influence
Formative influence

Answer 29

Normative influence: People have a need not to appear odd or ‘stick out’ as a sore thumb. So they say yes to what other say.

The correct answer is: Normative influence

Question 30

The classic studies by Milgram explain the concept of

Select one:
Social norms
Persuasion
Motivation
Conformity
Obedience

Answer 30

The classic studies by Milgram showing that people would obey orders under certain conditions even if these exceeded the bounds of their usual beliefs explain the social psychology of obedience. Obedience is influenced by various factors including the perceived authority and powerfulness of the commander.

The correct answer is: Obedience

Question 31

Which of the following can reduce groupthink?

Select one:
Strong chairperson
Financial incentives
Unplanned meetings of the group
Fewer group members
Open debate

Answer 31

Various strategies that can reduce groupthink include encouraging open debate, acknowledging the presence of groupthink, seeking external opinion, splitting the group into smaller units for discussion, holding last chance meetings to encourage challenges and reserving leader’s opinions until after the groups discussion has been completed.

The correct answer is: Open debate

Question 32

A team leader is constantly stressing the group to focus on the commitment to the overall outcomes more than anything else. She is following a

Select one:
Relationship oriented style
Autocratic style
Persuasive style
Coercive style
Task oriented style

Answer 32

Persuasion is the ability to motivate and enthuse the group to pursue the goal. It differs from coercion where power is used to enforce change through rewards and punishment. Modern leadership is the very antithesis of coercion because it involves a degree of consensus rather than blind obedience. (Ref: Psychological basis of psychiatry- Thambirajah; Pg213)

The correct answer is: Persuasive style

Question 33

When many lights are turned on and off in rapid succession, the observer perceives a single light as moving from one position to the next rather than different lights coming on and off at different positions. What is this called?

Select one:
Visual hallucination
Pseudohallucination
Cock tail party phenomenon
Phi phenomenon
None of the above

Answer 33

The phi phenomenon is an optical illusion (Max Wertheimer, 1912), based on the principle that the human eye is capable of perceiving movement from pieces of information, such as repetition (flickering) of images. In other words, from a slideshow of a group of frozen images presented at a certain speed, we will perceive a constantly moving image. This is the principle behind motion pictures.

Question 34

Which one of the following is a secondary drive?

Select one:
Sex
None of the above
Play
Food
Water

Answer 34

In theories of motivation, Mowrer distinguished between primary and secondary drives. Primary drives or survival drives are those, which are guided by a physiological need like hunger or thirst and the primary reinforcers include food water and sex. Competence or secondary drives are those, which people seek out, but which do not fulfil a physiological need Eg play. Primary motives come and go. Secondary drives are continuous motives.

The correct answer is: Play

Question 35

The semantic differential scale may be subject to which of the following problems?

Select one:
All of the above
Positional response bias
Recall Bias
Selection bias
Performance bias

Answer 35

The semantic differential scale is a visual analogue scale (7 points) with two polarized adjectives at either extremes separated by a line. The subjects mark their attitudes between the two. It may be subject to positional response bias.

The correct answer is: Positional response bias

Question 36

A candidate who has appeared for a mock exam before the actual exam does well than a candidate who has not. This is called

Select one:
Practice effect
Hawthorne effect
Observer effect
Regression of mean
Halo effect

Answer 36

Practice effects occur when a participant in an experiment performs the same task twice or more after an interval. Subjects can either have a positive (subjects become better at performing the task) or negative (subjects become worse at performing the task) effect. Repeated measures designs are almost always affected by practice effects.

The correct answer is: Practice effect

Question 37

What factor is, in general, most influential in the development of friendship relationships?

Select one:
Complementarity
Personal similarity
Proximity
Reciprocity
Attractiveness

Answer 37

A classic study of beginning friendship was reported by Theodore Newcomb in The Acquaintance Process (1961). Newcomb identified four factors that affect the probability of making an acquaintance. 1. Proximity. We are more likely to get to know somebody with whom we have regular contact. 2. Reciprocity. We like people who like us.3. Similarity. We like people who share our values and beliefs. 4. Complementarity. We are attracted to people whose skills and abilities are complementary to our own. Complementary means different but compatible and mutually beneficial, like people with different skills who work together for a common purpose. (From Dewey, RA. Chapter 16: Friendship from Psychology: An Introduction, http://www.intropsych.com/ch16_sfl/friendship.html).

The correct answer is: Proximity

Question 38

In Milgram’s obedience experiments, the factors that increased obedience include all except

Select one:
Administering by proxy
Relieving the subject from responsibility of actions
Subject achieving an agentic state
Proximity to the shocked victim
Authority figure providing instructions

Answer 38

Being proximal to shocked victim will reduce shock administering behaviour and so reduce obedience.

The correct answer is: Proximity to the shocked victim

Question 39

The most common effect of cognitive dissonance is

Select one:
Memory disturbances
Formal thought disorder
Cognitive distortions
Psychological distress
Behavioural modification

Answer 39

‘Cognitive dissonance’ is an aversive psychological state aroused when there is a discrepancy between actions and attitudes (Festinger, 1957). In situations when actions cannot be reversed, or when doing so requires great effort, adjusting attitudes to be in line with decisions often reduces this discrepancy.

The correct answer is: Psychological distress

Question 40

The power in a person due to his ability to provide positive accomplishments is known as

Select one:
Expert power
Legitimate power
Reward power
Referent power
Coercive power

Answer 40

Reward power is the power that is conveyed through rewarding individuals for compliance with one’s wishes. This may be achieved through giving bonuses, raises, a promotion, and extra time off from work, etc. Coercive power is the power to punish. Referent power is the power through identification with the leader. Legitimate power is power bestowed by virtue of social position. Expert power is power resulting having greater knowledge or skills.

The correct answer is: Reward power

Question 41

Which one among the following is defined by how much we approve of ourselves and how worthy we think of ourselves?

Select one:
Self efficacy
Self esteem
Self image
Self actualisation
Self awareness

Answer 41

This is self-esteem. Self-image may be defined as the way we think we are like and how we describe ourselves. Self-efficacy is a term referring to the belief that we can perform adequately in a given situation. Self-awareness is the state of being or ability to be, consciously aware of oneself. Humans and other great apes are believed to have this capacity. Self-actualisation: It is the motive to realise one’s full potential. According to Maslow’s theory, self-actualised people have an acceptance of who they are despite their faults and limitations and experience a drive to be creative in all aspects of their lives.

The correct answer is: Self esteem

Question 42

Tom is a student who attributes a good grade on an exam to his intelligence and hard work but a poor grade to the teacher’s poor ability and unfair test questions. He is exhibiting;

Select one:
Negativity bias
Attentional bias
Barnum effect
Self serving bias
Just world hypothesis

Answer 42

A self-serving attributional bias refers to individuals attributing their successes to internal or personal factors but attributing their failures to external or situational factors. This bias is a mechanism for individuals to protect or enhance their own self-esteem.

The correct answer is: Self serving bias

Question 43

The presence of others reduces task performance. This is called

Select one:
Group polarization
Group think
Social facilitation
Risky shift phenomenon
Social loafing

Answer 43

The presence of others reduces task performance. This has been called social loafing. Ringelmann demonstrated it in the 1880s by observing tug-of-war teams. He demonstrated that the more people there were in a team, the less the effort made by each person in the team.

The correct answer is: Social loafing

Question 44

Attitudes do not always correlate with one’s behaviours. The attitudes that predict behaviour best are those that are

Select one:
Broad and not task specific
Not emotionally valued
Flexible and changeable
Not based on one's own life experiences
Strong and consistent

Answer 44

Attitudes predict behaviour if 1. They are strong and consistent 2.Based on direct experience and 3. Specifically relate to the behaviour being predicted.

The correct answer is: Strong and consistent

Question 45

Scapegoating refers to

Select one:
Tension between racial groups rise when the economic conditions are similar
Encouraging conflicts with a political motive
Sexual assault on a vulnerable group leading to conflicts
Lack of empathy on perpetrators of abuse
Captives becoming emotionally attached to the captivators

Answer 45

Scapegoats are singled out victims who are blamed and discriminated by virtue of their group membership (e.g. racial group, work group, etc.). Scapegoating involves political and economic factors as well. Under the economic and political competition model, when resources are relatively scarce, the dominant group in society will try to exploit [people from underrepresented groups] for material gain. Discrimination and prejudice are heightened during times of tension and increased competition over limited resources. Hovland and Sears showed that between 1882 and 1930, there was a direct relationship between the price of cotton and the number of lynchings of Blacks. As the price of cotton decreased, the number of lynchings increased. In the aftermath of the Tokyo Earthquake of 1923, which claimed the lives of 100,000 people, several thousand Koreans were said to be massacred. The racial hatred allegedly stemmed from the competition from the influx of Korean labor for scarce jobs that were available.

The correct answer is: Tension between racial groups rise when the economic conditions are similar

Question 46

A mother of an autistic child is curious to know the reason behind her son’s apparent lack of empathy towards other children of similar age. Which of the following can be explained to her in order to address her question? (June 2009)

Select one:
Attribution error
Cerebellar dysplasia
Precontemplative stage
Theory of mind
Cognitive dissonance

Answer 46

Perspective taking is explained on the basis of the theory of mind. Lack of ToM may be the explanation for the apparent lack of empathy among children with autism.

The correct answer is: Theory of mind

Question 47

According to the frustration-aggression hypothesis which of the following is false?

Select one:
Aggression is the one of the many possible responses to frustration
Fear of punishment can inhibit aggression
Aggression is driven by a need to nullify frustration
Unavailability of the frustrator can inhibit aggression
Unexpressed frustration cannot be displaced onto an innocent target

Answer 47

The frustration-aggression hypothesis of Dollard considers aggression to be one of the many possible products of frustration. In a meta-analysis including 49 studies, Marcus-Newhall, Pedersen, Carlson and Miller (2000) found consistent evidence that frustrated individuals show displacement of aggression from the source of the frustration onto a less powerful or more accessible target.

The correct answer is: Unexpressed frustration cannot be displaced onto an innocent target