Social Influence practice qs

Question 1

Identify which part of the brain is associated with having low self‑esteem

Answer 1

hippocampus

Question 2

Identify which part of the brain is associated with having faulty moral reasoning

Answer 2

prefrontal cortex

Question 3

The council are asking entrants to design
a poster to encourage people to place litter in bins. Explain how Bickman’s findings could help Sam when designing the poster

Answer 3

‘Bickman found that the uniformed guard requesting that
the participant picked up the bag had the highest level of
authority. [1] Sam could use someone in a policeman’s or
guard’s uniform in the poster. [1] This would increase the
likelihood of people obeying the poster’s instruction and
placing rubbish in the bin.

Question 4

Explain one problem Sam may have using Bickman’s (1974) study to design the poster

Answer 4

‘One problem with Bickman’s study is that it was culturally
biased. It was only done in one street in America [1] so
we cannot be sure that the same effect of the uniform will
apply in Sam’s local town.

Question 5

People who have an internal locus of control believe that they have the ability to
control their decisions about their own life. In crowd situations, people with an
………. locus of control are ………..
likely to be influenced by how the crowd is behaving. People with an
………… locus of control are more likely to use violence when
taking part in a protest.

Answer 5

People who have an internal locus of control believe that
they have the ability to control their decisions about their
own life. In crowd situations, people with an internal locus
of control are less likely to be influenced by how the
crowd is behaving. People with an external locus of
control are more likely to use violence when taking part in
a protest.

Question 6

Ali designs a questionnaire to investigate how individuals respond to different social situations. Ali
asks participants to answer a variety of questions including:
1 Would you put your smart phone away in class if your teacher told you to?
2 Would you stop and help someone who had fallen over?
3 Would you join in drawing graffiti on a wall if your friends were all doing it?
Ali decides to keep the participants’ identity anonymous so they cannot be identified.
Using the source:
(a) Give the question number that is investigating pro-social behaviour.

Answer 6

2 Would you stop and help someone who had fallen over?

Question 7

Describe one ethical issue, other than confidentiality, Ali should consider when carrying out
the research into how individuals respond in different social situations.

Answer 7

One ethical
issue is right to withdraw [1], Ali should make it clear to participants (at the beginning of the
investigation), should they feel any pressure/not want to complete the questionnaire
they
have the right to stop filling it in/not answer questions if they do not want to’

Question 8

Identify the sample in the NatCen (2011) study into the August riots in England.

Answer 8

(36 under and over eighteen-year-olds)

Question 9

Identify which of the following is a sub-group of Rioters as described in the NatCen (2011)
study

Answer 9

Thrill-seekers

Question 10

Identify which of the following represents a possible tug factor in the NatCen (2011) study.

Answer 10

(Relatives not approving

Question 11

Outline how locus of control may affect either Li’s or Taylor’s decision to join in with the
abusive behaviour.

Answer 11

‘as Li has an internal locus of control ,
this may make them more likely to join the abusive
behaviour [1] as Li believes they can influence change

Question 12

State one situational factor that may affect Li’s decision to carry on with the protest and join in
with the abusive behaviour

Answer 12

presence of an authority
figure/ being part of a crowd or presence of others
leading to deindividuation.

Question 13

Explain how morality can affect anti-social behaviour.

Answer 13

‘moral development is how we develop our
understanding of what is right and wrong [1], people in
a lower stage of moral development focus on
themselves rather than society so are more likely to be
anti-social’

Question 14

Outline how brain differences may affect anti-social behaviour

Answer 14

‘damage to the pre-frontal cortex [1] is linked with faulty
moral reasoning which would increase the likelihood of
anti-social behaviour’

Question 15

Describe two criticisms of dispositional explanations of obedience

Answer 15

‘ Dispositional explanations
lack generalisability [1] because the research is biased
to western cultures’ [1]

‘Dispositional explanations are reductionist [1] as they
do not take into account how we are influenced by
people around us’ [1

Question 16

Explain how social desirability may have affected the results of the study in the source (male authority fig v female authority fig)

Answer 16

‘social desirability refers to the participant responding to
a question in a way that they feel society would expect
[1]. In this study the majority of participants stated no
gender preference in obeying as this would be more
acceptable to society

Question 17

Describe how majority influence could be used to promote social change in relation to mental
health stigma.

Answer 17

‘charities [1] try to reduce the stigma of mental illness
by raising awareness and normalising mental health [1].
For example, one nationwide campaign called Time for
Change [1], encourage schools or workplaces to devote
one day to mental health where talking about it openly
helps to change attitudes towards mental health’ [1].

Question 18

Identify where Bickman’s (1974) first experiment in the study into obedience and the social
power of a uniform took place

Answer 18

New York

Question 19

identify the sampling method Bickman (1974) used in his first experiment.

Answer 19

opportunity sampling

Question 20

Describe one way culture may influence pro-social behaviour.

Answer 20

‘If you come from a collectivist culture,
you may be more likely to help [1] your parents than if
you come from an individualistic culture [1]’.

Question 21

Explain how conformity and crowd behaviour are different.

Answer 21

1 mark for identifying conformity as yielding to group
pressure.
1 mark for identifying crowd behaviour as a group of
people who have come together for a purpose but may
behave differently