Social Flashcards
1
Q
The scientific study of how individuals' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by other individuals, or "social stimuli," is referred to as what?
A
Social
Psychology
2
Q
Kurt Lewin developed \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, which examined interaction patterns between the individual and the total environment, and posited that people typically move toward goals in the field that are satisfying and away from goals that are negative or threaten their needs.
A
Field Theory
(field = one’s
immediate
environment)
3
Q
Lewin’s Field Theory holds that conflict occurs
when forces directing one toward or away from
goals are opposite in direction and about equal in
strength. The 3 types of conflicts are ________,
which occurs when one is forced to choose
between 2 equally attractive goals, _______,
which occurs when one has to choose between 2
equally unattractive goals, and ________, which
occurs when one is both attracted to and
repelled by the same situation at the same time.
A
Approach-approach (e.g., person receives 2 equally attractive date requests for the same night); avoidance-avoidance (e.g., person does not like job, but only other option is unemployment); approach-avoidance (e.g., teen chooses to go to a party with knowledge he will be grounded for doing so)
4
Q
According to Field Theory, what are the typical response patterns to each of the 3 conflict situations discussed by Lewin?
A
Approach-approach = initial ambivalence, then
goal person chose to move toward becomes
more attractive and the other goal less attractive;
avoidance-avoidance = initially attempt to move
away from both goals- if that does not work,
person vacillates between the 2 goals until an
equilibrium is achieved; approach-avoidance =
person remains in field and eventually reaches a
stable equilibrium where approach and
avoidance forces are balanced
5
Q
The tendency to experience intrusive thoughts about an objective that was once pursued but left incomplete is referred to as \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ and suggests that people are better able to remember uncompleted tasks than completed tasks.
A
The
Zeigarnik
Effect
6
Q
Bem's \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ posits that we develop self-concept by observing our own behavior similar to how we observe others' behavior and inferring what we think or how we feel based on such observations.
A
Self-Perception
Theory
7
Q
In support of self-perception theory, what study found that subjects who did not receive prior information regarding a drug's effect adopted the affect (either euphoric or angry) of a confederate?
A
Schacter’s
Epinephrine
Study
8
Q
Based on his epinephrine study findings, Schacter developed his \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, which posits that to experience a specific emotion, one must first experience physiological arousal, and then must cognitively interpret that arousal- the reactions of others helps in this interpretation process.
A
Two-factor
theory of
emotion
9
Q
A child who once enjoyed learning new things, yet developed an aversion to academics after she started school where her learning was rewarded with grades exemplifies what?
A
Overjustification Hypothesis: Rewarding a person for an activity they enjoy undermines their genuine interest in the activity, thereby diminishing the activity's inherent enjoyability
10
Q
A person who engages in an activity of genuine interest is \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ motivated, whereas behavior done to receive a reward such as money or accolades is \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ motivated.
A
Intrinsically;
extrinsically
11
Q
What theory suggests that, due to our drive to evaluate our own opinions and abilities, we evaluate ourselves by comparing ourselves to similar others when we feel uncertain about our abilities or opinions?
A
Social
Comparison
Theory
12
Q
According to social comparison theory, when are people most likely to make downward comparisons, such as comparing oneself to others who are inferior, less successful, or less fortunate?
A
When one feels threatened, when a negative characteristic is subject to evaluation, and in people with low self-esteem
13
Q
The idea that people would rather be known and understood by others according to their own self-concept, regardless of whether their self-concept is positive or negative, is asserted by what theory?
A
Self-Verification
Theory (suggests
we’d rather be
right than happy)
14
Q
TRUE or FALSE: Depressed people tend to seek more negative feedback and rejection from others.
A
TRUE: Research supports self-verification theory's position that people seek confirmation of their self-concept, even if it is negative and exacerbates symptoms
15
Q
This theory is concerned with the ways in which people perceive and think about the behaviors of themselves or others, exploring how people attempt to make inferences about the causes of observed behavior.
A
Attribution
Theory
16
Q
The tendency to overestimate the role of personal factors while underestimating the impact of situational factors when attempting to understand or explain the behavior of others is referred to as what?
A
Fundamental Attribution Error (e.g., a person cuts me off and I immediately assume he is a jerk without considering situational factors, such as disruptive children or car problems)
17
Q
TRUE or FALSE: Just as we are prone to the fundamental attribution error when explaining others' behavior, so too are we prone when explaining our own behavior.
A
FALSE: While the focus is more on personal attributions when explaining the behavior of others, we are more likely to make situational attributions when explaining our own behavior (referred to as the Actor-Observer Effect)
18
Q
While the actor-observer effect tends to hold true when explaining personal failures, successful behaviors usually lead to a \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, whereby one is more likely to make dispositional (personal) rather than situational attributions.
A
Self-serving
bias
19
Q
What are the 3 original and 2 additional dimensions to Weiner's taxonomy in his Attributional Theory of Motivation and Emotion?
A
Original: internal/external, stable/unstable, controllable/uncontrollable; Additional: intentional/unintentional, global/specific
20
Q
This term refers to a person's belief about the causes of good and bad results in her life; a person with a high \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ one believes that her behavior is guided by fate or luck, while a person with a high \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ believes her behavior is a product of her own decisions and efforts.
A
Locus of
control;
external;
internal
21
Q
A person who hears about another person being mugged and immediately assumes tha person did something to deserve such treatment exemplifies what notion first hypothesized by Lerner?
A
The Just-World Hypothesis, which refers to the human tendency to want to believe the world is just so strongly that otherwise inexplicable injustices are rationalized by blaming the victim
22
Q
According to Derald Sue, locus of control and \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ intersect to create 4 possible worldviews that are largely influenced by a person's racial and ethnic identity.
A
Locus of
responsibility
23
Q
According to Sue, people with \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ control and \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ responsibility view successes and failures as due to their own efforts and abilities; common in dominant US culture; may hinder a therapist's capacity to understand their minority client's worldview.
A
Internal;
internal
24
Q
According to Sue, people with ________
control and ________ responsibility
recognize their ability to shape their own
lives, though acknowledge some external
barriers exist (e.g., discrimination); clients
with this worldview are more likely to be
active in therapy and expect the therapist
to be equally as active.
A
Internal;
external
25
Q
According to Sue, people with \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ control and \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ responsibility are typically marginalized and feel they have little influence over their fate, largely as a result of personal faults rather than discrimination or racism; as clients, people with this worldview should be reminded of the political forces contributing to their dilemma.
A
External;
internal
26
Q
According to Sue, people with \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ control and \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ responsibility feel powerless over their lives and blame outside forces (e.g., government) for it; as clients, people with this worldview are helped by being taught new coping strategies and receiving validation for who they are.
A
External;
external
27
Q
A political TV commentator who makes the claim that "most Americans" agree with him on a particular issue, despite a lack of evidence, could be said to be engaging in what phenomenon?
A
False Consensus Bias (Effect), which refers to one's tendency to project his own beliefs/feelings onto other people and assume they are shared
28
Q
According to Asch, certain personality characteristics, which he called \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, seem to imply more about a person than other characteristics (e.g., warm-cold).
A
Central
traits
29
Q
If Person A is provided a list of traits about Person B, with the beginning traits being more positive and the traits at the end of the list more negative, what type of impression is Person B most likely to leave on Person A?
A
Positive, based on the primacy effect, which states that initial characteristics leave the strongest impression (regardless of whether they are positive or negative), unless the presentation of the conflicting descriptions is interrupted
30
Q
This is the tendency to weigh negative information more than positive information when evaluating others.
A
Trait
negativity
bias
31
Q
The tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions is referred to as what?
A
Confirmation
bias
32
Q
Exemplifying confirmation bias, what did Rosenhan's pseudopatient study reveal when 8 mentally healthy confederates admitted themselves into a mental hospital?
A
While real patients were able to recognize that the pseudopatients were not mentally ill, psychiatrists and staff members did not, illustrating that we tend to view reality in terms of our own beliefs and impressions about it
33
Q
This phenomenon occurs when a person's expectations about the behavior of themselves or others leads to fulfillment of those expectations due to positive feedback between belief and behavior.
A
Self-fulfilling prophecy (aka Pygmalion Effect based on Rosenthal's and Jacobson's research)
34
Q
A \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ is a cognitive belief that ascribes certain traits to specific groups of people; \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ refers to negative feelings about people based exclusively on their group membership; \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ occurs when behavior is directed against people due to their affiliation with a specific group.
A
Stereotype;
prejudice;
discrimination
35
Q
The belief that men are more independent, assertive, and dominant while woman are sensitive, dependent, warm, and people-oriented is a good example of what?
A
Gender
role
stereotype
36
Q
TRUE or FALSE: Prejudice, being largely determined by cultural and social forces, is effectively addressed by the implementation of interventions such as anti-discrimination laws (e.g., affirmative action).
A
FALSE: Such interventions will not have an immediate impact due to prejudice being so sternly internalized, though overt behaviors may change
37
Q
According to Adorno et al., the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ is characterized by rigidity in thought, conventionality, submissiveness to authority, sexual inhibition, and intolerance of those who are different; those characterized this way were typically raised by domineering parents who used harsh disciplinary measures.
A
Authoritarian
(prejudiced)
personality
38
Q
Based on this theory, prejudice and discrimination are a product of one's drive to enhance his own self-esteem, which is done by believing one's own group (the in-group) is attractive while lambasting members of other groups (the out-group).
A
Social
Identity
Theory
39
Q
Findings from Sherif's Robber's Cave Study revealed that, while prejudice, racism, and discrimination are difficult to address, the introduction of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ seems to be effective in attenuating intergroup hostility.
A
Superordinate goals, or goals that are shared and require cooperation between different groups
40
Q
Children learning in what type of an environment, where material is divided into subtopics and each student is responsible for learning and teaching one subtopic to other students, tend to be less prejudiced, like school more, and have higher self-esteem?
A
Jigsaw
Classroom
41
Q
The \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ posits that relations between members of hostile groups can be improved by the members being in direct contact, so long as (1) both groups are of equal status, (2) both groups work toward a common goal (superordinate goal), (3) there is personal contact between the groups, and (4) social norms encourage cooperation, equality, and intergroup contact.
A
Contact
Hypothesis
42
Q
In his research on affiliation, Schachter demonstrated that people experiencing the expectation of something unpleasant were more likely to want to be with others, suggesting affiliation serves to reduce anxiety. This led Schachter to conclude \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, which has become a common idiom.
A
Misery loves
(miserable)
company
43
Q
TRUE or FALSE: In situations where survival is at issue, people seem to prefer to affiliate with others in similar situations (e.g., cancer).
A
FALSE: While "misery loves company" appears true typically, this does not seem so in cases where survival is at issue
44
Q
The \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ effect suggests that attraction can be increased simply by being closer in proximity to someone/something, due primarily to repeated contact.
A
Mere
exposure
45
Q
The erroneous conclusion that a person possesses a variety of desirable characteristics based solely on her physical attractiveness is referred to as what?
A
What-is-beautiful-is-good
bias
46
Q
What are the 7 main variables related to interpersonal attractiveness?
A
Physical proximity, similarity, complementarity, physical attractiveness, self-disclosure, reciprocity, and costs-and-benefits
47
Q
In her \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ model, Berscheid proposes that positive and negative emotions usually arise in a relationship when one partner's behavior disconfirms the other partner's expectations (e.g., husband unexpectedly cleans the house = positive emotion in wife; wife abruptly stops making nightly dinner = negative emotion in husband).
A
Emotion-In-Relationships
ERM
48
Q
What term refers to the reduced likelihood that a bystander will help a person in need as the number of other bystanders increases?
A
Bystander
apathy
49
Q
The 3 psychological factors involved in bystander
apathy include ________, referring to one’s
failure to feel responsible to help due to the
assumption that other bystanders will help;
________, referring to one’s propensity to take
cues from others as to what behavior is
appropriate for the situation (e.g., if no one else
is helping, help must not be needed); and
________, referring to one’s fear that taking
action might be embarrassing or lead to social
disapproval.
A
Diffusion of responsibility; social influence; evaluation apprehension
50
Q
In this "non-zero-sum" game, two people role-play being suspects in a crime and are given 2 alternatives during separate interrogations- either confess or remain silent. If one confesses and the other remains silent, the confessor receives immunity and the other receives severe punishment. If both confess, both receive severe punishment, while if both remain silent, both receive minimal punishment.
A
The Prisoner's Dilemma: Research has revealed that players tend to confess in the hope of beating out the other person; however, since they both confess, they both lose
51
Q
A wrestler attempting to win a match is engaging in \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ aggression, as the behavior is a means to some other end, while a husband who batters his wife is engaging in \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ aggression, which is characterized by venting of negative emotion.
A
Instrumental;
hostile
52
Q
TRUE or FALSE: Children are more likely to imitate the aggressive behavior of adults who are important, powerful, successful, liked, or familiar.
A
TRUE: This is true whether the child witnesses the aggression live (e.g., parents) or filmed (e.g., television programs)
53
Q
The idea that frustration always leads to aggression, and that aggression is always preceded by frustration is referred to as the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
A
Frustration-Aggression
Hypothesis
54
Q
According to the frustration-aggression hypothesis, what occurs when aggression is withheld out of either fear of punishment or lack of access to the source of the frustration?
A
It will be displaced onto another target (e.g., a mother with unexpressed anger toward her boss becomes aggressive with her children)
55
Q
The idea that participating in or witnessing aggressive behavior actually reduces one's propensity to engage in other aggressive acts stems from what theory?
A
Catharsis Theory (Model): No empirical evidence supports this theory and it appears witnessing or engaging in aggressive acts may actually increase one's inclination toward aggressive behavior
56
Q
TRUE or FALSE: People appear to be more inclined to act aggressively when the temperature is high and less likely when the temperature is cooler.
A
TRUE: Research indicates more violent crimes occur when it is warm, less when it is cool
57
Q
When a person who would not usually behave violently in his individual interactions becomes uncharacteristically violent and aggressive due to the influence of a crowd, what psychological phenomenon is likely at play?
A
Deindividuation, or one's loss of a personal sense of individuality (sense of anonymity)
58
Q
The \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ occurs when, in darkness, a stationary point of light appears to move in various directions.
A
Autokinetic
Effect
59
Q
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ conformity is when a person uses others' behavior as a source of accurate information, in order to avoid making a mistake, especially when she is unsure of her accuracy; \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ conformity is when a person's behavior is swayed by his desire to avoid criticism and be accepted by the group.
A
Informational;
normative
60
Q
What factors usually contribute to a single person influencing and changing the opinions or behaviors of a large group?
A
1) Minority’s position is consistent;
2) Minority not perceived as rigid,
psychologically imbalanced, or
biased; 3) Minority must not waver
in support of their position; 4)
Minority is not a member of a
familiar social group arguing in
favor of that group’s interests
61
Q
The concept of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ suggests a person must conform to a group and be seen as a "competent insider" before they can effectively make changes or deviate from the norm.
A
Idiosyncrasy Credits: These are "accumulated" as one becomes an accepted group member; the more one has, the more effective her attempts at change/leadership will be
62
Q
An adolescent reacting to his parents demands to "be home before 10pm" by staying out until 10:30pm, due to the threat against his freedom to choose, exemplifies what phenomenon?
A
Psychological
reactance
63
Q
Generally, the difference between conformity and compliance is that the former involves adhering to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ group norms while the latter involves agreeing to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ requests.
A
Implicit;
explicit
64
Q
What compliance technique involves first making small requests (e.g., "can you pick up a gallon of milk?") then moving to larger requests of a similar nature (e.g., "could you do my grocery shopping?"), whereby the person receiving the requests complies because he wants his behavior to remain consistent?
A
Foot-in-the-door
technique
65
Q
This compliance technique involves first making an unreasonably large request (e.g., "will you pay my rent?") that is expected to be denied, followed by a smaller more reasonable request (e.g., "can I borrow $10?"), which is more often accepted.
A
Door-in-the-face
technique
66
Q
Usually utilized by shoddy used car salespeople, \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ occurs when an agreement is secured with a request, then the size of the request is increased by revealing its hidden costs; research indicates it is an effective technique.
A
Low-balling
67
Q
In Milgram's classic study on obedience to authority, a group of psychiatrists initially predicted only \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_% of subjects would administer shocks at the highest voltage, when in reality \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_% surprisingly went all the way to the "fatal" level.
A
1; 65
68
Q
This term refers to one's ability to influence others and resist others' influence.
A
Social
power
69
Q
The bases of social power defined by French
and Raven include ________, resulting from
one’s ability to reward others; ________,
resulting from one’s ability to punish others;
________, a result of valid authority in a certain
situation; ________, occurring when one desires
acceptance from the holder of power; and
________, which occurs when the holder of
power is believed to have special knowledge or
expertise.
A
Reward;
coercive;
legitimate;
referent; expert
70
Q
What two "bases of power," when combined, are characteristic of the most effective style of leadership?
A
Referent
power and
expert power
71
Q
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ is the tendency for people to perform \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ on simple tasks and \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ on complex tasks when in the presence of others.
A
Social
facilitation;
better; worse
72
Q
A group of college students are allowed to a test together, which leads to some of the students working less hard than others and contributing little to the test. This is an example of what phenomenon?
A
Social loafing, whereby individual output declines when people are working together in a group
73
Q
How might one approach reducing or eliminating the possibility of social loafing occurring during a group task?
A
Inform participants that their individual contributions are either identifiable or uniquely necessary for the group to succeed
74
Q
The tendency for people in a group to make decisions that are more extreme than their original positions is referred to as what?
A
Group polarization (aka "risky shift" if the shift in position is in the risky direction)
75
Q
What term refers to the type of thought exhibited by group members attempting to minimize conflict and reach concurrence without critically testing, analyzing, or evaluating ideas, thereby leading to decisions that are often irrational?
A
Groupthink
76
Q
This is a group decision-making technique in which all group members are asked to generate and share all creative solutions to a particular problem, regardless of how eccentric the ideas may be.
A
Brainstorming
77
Q
TRUE or FALSE: People working alone tend to produce more ideas with better quality than when brainstorming in a group?
A
TRUE: This
position is
supported by
research
78
Q
The 4 types of classification of group tasks are
________, where the group product is the sum of
all members’ contributions; ________, where the
poorest performance of 1 member determines
the group product; ________, where the group
product is determined by the single best
performance; and ________, where the
performance of the average member determines
the group product.
A
Additive tasks; conjunctive tasks; disjunctive tasks; compensatory tasks
79
Q
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ is a third-party intervention that occurs when individuals or groups cannot reach an agreement; \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, while similar to the former, consists of the third-party strongly recommending or dictating a final agreement that the disputants will abide by.
A
Mediation;
arbitration
80
Q
TRUE or FALSE: Attitudes and behavior are strongly correlated (e.g., people very frequently behave in ways consistent with their stated attitudes)?
A
FALSE: Research
suggests attitudes
and behavior are
weakly correlated
81
Q
A \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ is an indication of one's readiness to perform a given behavior, based on attitude toward the behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control.
A
Behavioral
intention
82
Q
When a person engages in a behavior that is inconsistent with her held beliefs, and the justification for performing such behavior is insufficient, she is likely to experience a shift in attitude about the behavior. This process is referred to as what?
A
Cognitive
Dissonance
83
Q
This theory posits that humans desire consistency between attitudes and feelings toward others, and should there be inconsistency, one will seek balance by either changing his attitude (if the other person is liked) or changing his feelings toward the other person (if the other person is disliked).
A
Heider’s
Balance
Theory
84
Q
The phenomenon that occurs when a message from a low-credibility source increases persuasiveness over time is referred to as what?
A
The
Sleeper
Effect
85
Q
Persuasive communications that elicit fear in a target audience, while typically ineffective, can be helpful under what conditions?
A
When instructions are provided on how to avoid the feared consequence
86
Q
This is the process of providing information to a person/people prior to the communication process with the intent of making the person/people more resistant to the message to be communicated (e.g., political talk-show hosts that provide weak arguments for the other side's position before the listeners encounter the full presentation).
A
Inoculation
Theory
87
Q
TRUE or FALSE: People with low self-esteem will typically show more attitude change following a persuasive message than people with high self-esteem?
A
TRUE: Persuasive messages seem to have a larger impact on people with lower self-esteem
88
Q
According to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, a "central route" to persuasion occurs when a person carefully considers the contents of a message, whereas a "peripheral route" occurs when an argument's content is not carefully considered and the focus is on other cues (e.g., perceived source credibility, attractiveness of source, catchy slogans).
A
Elaboration
Likelihood
Model
89
Q
The study of the effect of the physical environment on behavior is referred to as what?
A
Environmental
Psychology (or
Ecological
Psychology)
90
Q
TRUE or FALSE: Women tend to be more sensitive to and stressed in crowded situations.
A
FALSE: While some studies support the opposite notion, that men are more sensitive to crowding, the research is largely inconclusive (on the test, choose the most appropriate response)
91
Q
What are some characteristics of people who tend to require greater personal space (the physical distance maintained between one person and another)?
A
Low self-esteem and high authoritarianism; Americans; male, though research findings are inconsistent
92
Q
Research has shown that the 2 most damaging aspects of noise stress are \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ and \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
A
Unpredictability (when noise occurs without warning); uncontrollability (when nothing can be done about the noise)
93
Q
What popular childhood activity has consistently been linked to increased aggressive behavior and tolerance for aggression?
A
Viewing television, which also reinforces traditional sex-role stereotypes
94
Q
Juries with less than how many people are more likely to convict a defendant?
A
12, due to the lower chance of the jury containing more than 1 dissenter
95
Q
In a courtroom setting, what is true about the presentation of graphic evidence (e.g., gruesome photos) in terms of the jurors?
A
It lowers jurors' standards of proof (amount of evidence needed to make a decision) and elicits pro-prosecution biases
96
Q
According to the literature, what is the only situation in which a criminal's physical attractiveness has been shown to lead to harsher treatment?
A
When physical attractiveness is used to aid in the commission of a crime; physically attractive criminals are otherwise treated with greater leniency
97
Q
The process whereby additional information from something observed becomes integrated into one's memory of the original event, regardless of accuracy, is referred to as what?
A
Reconstructive
memory (E.
Loftus)
98
Q
The \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ behavior pattern is characterized by competitive striving for achievement, hostility, aggression, and a sense of time urgency; research has linked this behavior pattern with coronary heart disease.
A
Type A
99
Q
The buffer hypothesis (or effect) states that an individual is protected against the harmful effects of heightened stress on physical health when high levels of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ are present.
A
Perceived
social
support
100
Q
According to the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, perceived susceptibility (of contracting an illness), perceived severity (of an illness if treated or untreated), perceived benefits (of health plan/treatment), and perceived barriers (e.g., side-effects, time consuming) contribute to a person's decision to utilize preventive disease measures and screening tests.
A
Health
Belief
Model
101
Q
Research has indicated that \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ are the most influential variables for predicting and explaining health-related behaviors.
A
Perceived
barriers
