Chapter 13 Midterm 2

Question 1

Why did nobody help Kitty Genovese

Answer 1

Before helping, we must first notice the incident, then interpret it as an incident, then feel responsible to help
-everyone said that “they thought someone else phoned”

Question 2

Factors that increase bystander intervention

Answer 2

• good mood
• feeling guilty
• seeing others who are willing to help
• knowing how to help
• a personalized relationship
• the person is similar to us
• not rushed or in a hurry

Question 3

Factors that decrease bystander intervention

Answer 3

• the presence of other people
• being in a big city or a very small town
• vague or ambiguous situations
• when personal costs outweigh the benefits of helping

Question 4

Fundamental attribution error

Answer 4

• when analyzing others’ behaviour, to overestimate the influence of personal traits and underestimate the effects of the situation
• more likely to occur when a stranger acts badly
• students attributed behaviour of others to personal traits, even when they were told that behaviour was part of an experimental situation

Question 5

Self-serving bias

Answer 5

take credit for our successes by attributing them to traits (personality, skills, intelligence) and distance ourselves from failures by attributing them to the situation.

Ex: "He failed the test in his class because he didn't study well. I failed in my class because the test was unfair" 
(more likely to blame others to preserve our sense of self esteem if it is our own fault)

Question 6

Central Route (systematic) Persuasion

Answer 6

• a change in attitude brought about by an appeal to reason and logic
• strong evidence and arguments are presented to trigger thoughtful responses
• works when people are analytic or involved in the issue

Question 7

Attitudes

Answer 7

Feelings influenced by beliefs, that predispose reactions to objects, people, and events

Question 8

Peripheral route persuasion

Answer 8

uses incidental cues to try to produce fast but relatively thoughtless changes in attitudes

Question 9

Social Thinking

Answer 9

when attitudes do not fit with actions, tensions are often reduced by changing attitudes to match actions (cognitive dissonance theory)

Question 10

The foot-in-the-door phenomenon

Answer 10

-first ask for something small
-later, make a larger request
-small requests pave the way for compliance with the larger request
(used by car dealerships)

Question 11

What did the Stanford Prison Experiment discover

Answer 11

the power of the situation can alter our social reality.

-ordinary people can exhibit horrendous behaviours under situational forces

Question 12

Chameleon Effect

Answer 12

we unconsciously mimic others’ expressions, postures and tones, especially when we like them

Question 13

Solomon Asch’s line experiment

Answer 13

Demonstrated conformity.

Question 14

When does conformity increase

Answer 14

• the person is made to feel incompetent
• the group has at least three people and is not a huge crowd
• the rest of the group is unanimous
• the person admires the status and attractiveness of the group

Question 15

Normative social influence

Answer 15

to gain approval

Question 16

Informational social influence

Answer 16

to accept others’ opinions as new information

Question 17

Social facilitation

Answer 17

the tendency for weaknesses or strengths in performance to be magnified when people are watching.

• performer is physiologically aroused in front of an audience
• performer’s most likely response is strengthened

Question 18

Social loafing

Answer 18

tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable
(group projects)

Question 19

Deindividuation

Answer 19

• happens in a group or a crowd
• diminished self-consciousness
• loss of normal restraints
• lower awareness of individual values

Question 20

Group Polarization

Answer 20

Enhancement of a groups prevailing tendencies

• this self-amplifying effect in a group can be good - increases the determination and common mission in self-help groups
• polarizing effect can be bad - prejudiced groups

Question 21

Groupthink

Answer 21

Results when group members try to maintain harmony in a decision-making group and ignore conflicting evidence or opinions

• examining few alternatives
• selective gathering of information
• pressure to conform within the group
• pressure to withhold criticism
• collective rationalization

Question 22

Perceptual confirmation

Answer 22

• the tendency for people to perceive what they expect to perceive
• stereotypes bias our perception of individuals
• stereotypes lead us to believe those individuals confirm the stereotype when they have not.

Question 23

Stereotype threat

Answer 23

the fear of confirming an observer’s stereotype

Question 24

Prejudice

Answer 24

Unjustifiable and usually negative attitude towards a group

• involves stereotyped beliefs
• often involves negative emotions - hostility, envy, or fear

Question 25

Social roots of prejudice

Answer 25

1) social inequalities: have often developed attitudes that justify status quo
2) just -world phenomenon: good is rewarded and evil is punished
3) stereotypes: rationalize inequalities

Question 26

Implicit Prejudice

Answer 26

• Implicit racial associations
• implicit association tests results: even people who deny racial prejudice may carry negative associations
• Unconscious patronization
• lower expectations, inflated praise and insufficient criticism for minority student achievement
• Race-influenced perceptions
• automatic racial bias
• Reflexive bodily responses
• unconscious, selective responses when looking at faces

Question 27

Aggression (biological)

Answer 27

Neural influences may facilitate aggression

• biochemical influences, such as hormones, neurotransmitters (serotonin)
• testosterone

Question 28

Altruism

Answer 28

Behaviour that benefits others without benefitting oneself

-unselfish regard for the welfare of others