Chapter 12 - Social Psychology

Question 1

Under what conditions are attitudes more likely to predict behavior?

Answer 1

• When outside influences are minimal
• When the attitude and behavior are specific
• When you are made aware of your attitudes

Question 2

Describe the three research paradigms that have been used to study cognitive dissonance.

Answer 2

Effort Justification - Aaronson & Mills (hazing - saying embarrassing sex related words for discussion)
Induced Compliance - paid $50 or $0.50 to compost, those who got paid less said they liked composting more
Post-Decisional Dissonance - hard to make a difficult discussion, after the decision, you like the choice you made more than the alternative

Question 3

Describe the “initiation” study discussed in class and how it provided evidence of cognitive dissonance.

Question 4

Describe the basics of what happened in Zimbardo’s prison study.

Question 5

What does Zimbardo say is the key lesson of this study?

Question 6

What are the major methodological critiques of Zimbardo’s study and how do these challenge his interpretation of the results?

Question 7

Explain how Asch’s famous series of studies worked. Under what conditions does the type of conformity that Asch found become more likely?

Question 8

What is the difference between normative and informational social influence?

Answer 8

normative - conform because you do not want to look stupid
informational - conform because you think the other people know more than you

Question 9

Explain the basics of Milgram’s famous obedience studies.

Question 10

Based on the Milgram studies, under what conditions is obedience most likely to occur?
What can make obedience to authority less likely?

Question 11

How was the more modern (2009) replication of Milgram’s study different than the original
studies? What were the results?

Question 12

What is the “social brain hypothesis”?

Question 13

How do reciprocity and transitivity relate to the formation of social groups?

Question 14

Describe the ingroup/outgroup
bias and the outgroup homogeneity effect.

Question 15

Describe social identity theory.

Question 16

What do studies using the minimal group paradigm reveal?

Answer 16

ingroup favoritism can come into effect no matter how arbitrarily the groups are created, even just by flipping a coin

Question 17

How do the following phenomena affect group decision-making? (the risky-shift effect, group polarization,
groupthink.)

Answer 17

Risky-shift Effect:
Group Polarization:
Groupthink:

Question 18

Under what conditions is groupthink most likely to occur? What can you do to make groupthink less
likely?

Question 19

How do social facilitation and social loafing work?

Question 20

Explain how Zajonc’s claims about the “dominant
response” relate to social facilitation.

Question 21

How does deindividuation affect behavior?

Question 22

How does social norms marketing work?

Question 23

What is the bystander intervention effect? How does it relate to diffusion of responsibility?

Question 24

What is the mere exposure effect?

Question 25

Explain the difference between central and peripheral routes to persuasion.

Question 26

How do the foot-in-the-door, door-in-the-face, and low-balling techniques work?

Answer 26

• Foot-in-the-door:
• Door-in-the-face:
• Low-balling:

Question 27

Describe the difference between personal and situational attributions.

Question 28

Explain the fundamental attribution error.

Question 29

Describe how subtyping functions keep stereotypes in place.

Question 30

What is stereotype threat? What kind of interventions can reduce the effects of stereotype threat?

Question 31

Describe the research on how perspective taking vs. perspective giving can work to counter stereotypes.