Social Psych Flashcards
n order to increase the chances that Mary Ann is altruistic it would help if she Select one: A. has younger siblings. B. comes from a large extended family. C. is inherently wealthy. D. has at least one older sibling.
Correct Answer is: A
This is one of those questions that would even cause social psychologists to despair. Nevertheless, a very similar question has been on the examination. You would have chosen the correct answer (“has younger siblings”) if you were familiar with this option (“comes from a large extended family”). Whiting and J. Whiting’s study of six cultures. They found that responsibility for the welfare of others was the most important factor in the development of altruism (Children of Six Cultures, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1975).
comes from a large extended family.
This is incorrect; Cohen’s study found altruism linked more to a nuclear than an extended family structure (R. Cohen, Altruism: Human, cultural, or what? Journal of Social Issues, 28(3), 39-57).
is inherently wealthy.
has at least one older sibling.
These two options have not been found to correlate with any of the research.
Compared to decentralized networks, centralized networks
Select one:
A. are less effective but more accepted by employees.
B. are more effective when the task is complex.
C. are more effective when the task is easy.
D. are more effective and more accepted by employees.
Correct Answer is: C
In a centralized communication network, all communication goes through one person (usually the person in charge). This type of network is most effective when the problem or task is easy; i.e., it does not require a lot of communication among workers to be resolved or accomplished.
are less effective but more accepted by employees.
are more effective and more accepted by employees.
We can rule out these two options not only because these networks are not automatically more or less effective than decentralized networks (again, it depends on the nature of the task), but also because it is usually the leader, not the employees, who prefers a centralized network.
What happens if two individuals are provided a situation where, if they cooperate, they will both receive moderate rewards, but if they compete, only one will receive a large reward while the other will receive nothing?
Select one:
A. compete initially but later cooperate.
B. cooperate initially but then compete.
C. cooperate from the beginning
D. compete from the beginning
Feedback
Correct Answer is: D
In the Prisoner’s Dilemma game, it was found that people tend to compete straight away. They take a risk. This supports the pessimistic view of human nature: outside of our family and reference group we tend to be suspicious and hostile.
According to Rutter, the risk patterns that are accurate predictors for child psychopathology are:
Select one:
A. Small family size, parental criminality, marital discord
B. Severe marital discord, low socioeconomic status
C. Large family size, high socioeconomic status, parental psychopathology
D. Low socioeconomic status, small family size
Correct Answer is: B
Again, getting this question correct involves a willingness to read carefully through the answer choices. Rutter listed low socioeconomic status, severe marital discord, large family size, parental criminality, and placement of children outside the home as predictors of child psychopathology.
Previous research indicated that individuals with "Type A personalities" had an increased risk for coronary heart disease. However, subsequent research has found that only certain aspects of this personality type are predictive of heart disease. One of the most predictive personality traits for heart disease is: Select one: A. worry B. hostility C. competitiveness D. impatience
Correct Answer is: B
Recent research has found “negative emotions”, particularly, anger and hostility to be most predictive of heart disease in individuals with Type A personality.
You see an African-American client who tells you that he can’t get anywhere in life due to racism, but then tells you “I get what I deserve.” Based on this information, the client has a world view of
Select one:
A. external locus of control, internal locus of responsibility.
B. external locus of control, external locus of responsibility.
C. internal locus of control, internal locus of responsibility.
D. internal locus of control, external locus of responsibility.
Correct Answer is: A
J.B. Rotter identified internal-external locus of control as a personality trait of attributional tendency. People with an internal locus of control tend to view positive and negative outcomes as the result of their own actions; i.e., they believe they have control over their own fate. Those with an external locus of control view outside forces, such as luck, powerful external entities, or societal injustices, as in control over what happens to them. Derald Wing Sue identified locus of responsibility as an additional attributional tendency. People with an internal locus of responsibility credit or blame themselves for what happens to them; those with an external locus of responsibility place credit or blame with others. According to Sue, one’s worldview can fall into one of four quadrants, based on different combinations of locus of control and locus of responsibility. Sue noted that the internal locus of control/internal locus of responsibility (IC-IR) is the world view considered normal and healthy in the dominant culture, but that this is not necessarily the case in minority cultures. In this question, the person sees the external force of racism as in control of his outcomes, yet he still apparently blames himself for what happens to him. Therefore, the best answer is that his worldview is external locus of control/internal locus of responsibility. Sue points out that this is the typical world view of “self-hating” minority group members; these are people who are marginalized by the dominant culture and attempt to fit in with both the dominant and the ethnic culture but fail to do so in both cases.
The theory that we engage in prosocial behavior to relieve our own state of emotional distress at another's plight is referred to as: Select one: A. cognitive-appraisal theory B. instrumentality C. negative state relief theory D. opponent-process theory
Correct Answer is: C
Negative state relief theory states we engage in prosocial behavior to relieve our own state of emotional distress at another’s plight.
Cognitive-appraisal theory states that one’s emotion at a given time depends on one’s interpretation of the situation one is in.
Instrumentality refers to the extent to which an individual believes that attaining a particular outcome will lead to other positively valued outcomes.
Opponent-process theory of emotion proposes that the brain avoids extremes of emotional experience by counteracting a strong positive or negative emotion with an opposite or opponent emotional response. Opponent processes have been shown to be associated with characteristic changes in affective experience that occur over time, and the dynamics of affective response to such stimuli as horror movies, skydiving and addiction.
In the 1930s, a researcher named Chen found that ants removed more balls of dirt while building tunnels when they were working with one or two other ants than when they were working alone. Subsequent research on this "social facilitation" effect suggests that it is related to: Select one: A. increased arousal. B. imitation. C. competitiveness. D. group norms.
Feedback
Correct Answer is: A
Two of the responses (“competitiveness” and “group norms”) should have been pretty easy to eliminate since it’s not likely that the behavior of ants is going to be affected by competitiveness or group norms. It’s also questionable whether imitation would be a factor. That leaves arousal, which is the correct answer. Apparently, having others around us while we work increases our arousal which can have a positive or negative effect on performance, depending on the situation.
Research on the relationship between group size and the size of tips in restaurants has lent credence to the construct of diffusion of responsibility in its findings that as group size increases, the average tip per customer
Select one:
A. decreases.
B. increases.
C. decreases only when diners are charged separately.
D. increases only when diners are charged separately.
Correct Answer is: A
Diffusion of responsibility refers to the notion that the presence of others reduces people’s feeling of personal responsibility for events, as individuals tend to shift responsibility to others present. Both laboratory and field studies have shown that the presence of others does in fact reduce individual helping, charitable giving, task effort, and other types of non-mandatory giving behaviors, including restaurant tipping. The results of such studies are often explained as examples of diffusion of responsibility.
Morgan developed the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ model to help explain the relationship between personality mood states and athletic success. Select one: A. normative B. mental health C. psychological D. psychopathology
Correct Answer is: B
Morgan’s mental health model (MHM) of sport performance proposes an inverse relationship exists between psychopathology and sport performance. In other words, positive mental health is directly related to athletic success and high levels of performance whereas performance lessens as mental health worsens. Morgan found successful athletes tend to be vigorous and have little tension, depression, confusion, anger, and fatigue, a combination known as the iceberg profile. Other studies have shown that using general psychological measures of personality structure and mood state can identify between 70 and 85% of successful and unsuccessful athletes, which is a level superior to chance but still insufficient for the purpose of selecting athletes. MHM is a considered a means to help maintain the mental and physical health of athletes, such as mood state monitoring to prevent staleness syndrome in overtraining athletes, but not for use as a selection tool.
According to the Elaboration Likelihood Model, a persuasive message processed via the peripheral rather than the central route is most likely to be successful when:
Select one:
A. the message is not of an urgent nature
B. the listener has time to process the message
C. the communicator is of high status
D. the communicator is demographically similar to the listener
Correct Answer is: C
According to the Elaboration Likelihood Model, there are two routes of communication: a central route and a peripheral route. A listener is most susceptible to persuasion via the peripheral route when the communicator is appealing (e.g., is of high status), the listener is uninvolved with the message or is distracted, and/or the message appeals to fear.
Conformity involves adhering to implicit group norms, whereas compliance occurs when people agree to explicit requests to do something. According to the literature, all of the following increase compliance except: Select one: A. "door-in-the-face" technique B. "foot-in-the-door" method C. psychological reactance D. low-balling
Correct Answer is: C
The “door-in-the-face” technique involves making an initial request that is so large that it is sure to be rejected and then coming back with a second, more reasonable request. The “foot-in-the-door” technique involves moving from a small request to a larger one. Low-balling involves securing an agreement with a request and then increasing the size of that request by revealing its hidden costs. All three of these techniques have been shown to increase compliance.
On the other hand, psychological reactance, a phenomenon identified by Brehm (1966), states compliance and conformity are less likely to occur in situations where the person feels his or her freedom to choose is being threatened. Group pressures can sometimes produce the opposite of conformity or compliance and if a person perceives that his or her sense of control or freedom of choice is threatened, there will be an attempt to re-establish that freedom - i.e., to act in the opposite direction of the attempted influence.
A political columnist notes that female candidates for office who sharply criticize their opponents are often criticized for being aggressive and mean whereas male candidates who do the same are often praised for their honesty and courage. This observation, if true to at least some degree, reflects
Select one:
A. attribution errors on the part of the voting public.
B. the pervasiveness of gender stereotypes.
C. the fact that women who choose to enter politics are more likely to display stereotypically male characteristics.
D. the prescriptive aspect of gender stereotypes.
Correct Answer is: D
In the literature on gender stereotypes, a distinction is often made between the descriptive and prescriptive aspects of gender stereotypes. Descriptive stereotypes are those that involve generalizations about what women are; prescriptive stereotypes involve generalizations about what women should be. A criticism of a woman for engaging in the exact same behavior as a man for the exact same purpose is a prescriptive stereotype, because it implies that the woman should be acting differently just because she is a woman.
If you hear arguments against your opinion, followed by arguments against the opposing opinion, what is likely to happen?
Select one:
A. You will become very confused.
B. You will become more dogmatic in your original opinion.
C. You will change your opinion.
D. Your resistance to future opposing arguments will be increased.
Correct Answer is: D
This question is indirectly referencing McGuire’s inoculation theory, which proposes that a particular attitude or belief can be strengthened by exposing someone to the opposing belief – especially when the opposing argument is weak or the person is supplied with counter-arguments against the opposing belief. Note that this is analogous to medical inoculation, which involves injection of a weak form of a germ so the body can build up defenses against that germ.
The most important factor found to exist as a criterion for initial attraction between people who have just met is: Select one: A. attitude similarity. B. physical attractiveness. C. physical proximity. D. all of the above.
Correct Answer is: B
When we become attracted to someone we meet for the first time, it is most likely because of physical characteristics. Attraction due to other factors, such as intelligence, compatibility, etc., comes later.
After losing several hundred dollars gambling at the casino, Jack decides to increase the amount he places on each subsequent bet in hopes of making his money back. This decision is best explained by: Select one: A. satisficing. B. loss aversion. C. bounded rationality. D. cognitive dissonance.
Correct Answer is: B
Kahneman and Tversky’s (1979) Prospect Theory contains the notion of loss aversion which refers to the tendency to be influenced more by potential losses than potential gains or to base decisions more heavily on the fear of loss than the hope of gain. In contrast to commonly held beliefs that people are adverse to risk and make decisions based on logic, Kahneman and Tversky found that people are adverse to loss, not risk. This explains why gamblers will take riskier and riskier decisions after suffering a loss in hopes of making their money back, that is, to avoid realizing an actual loss.
Satisficing refers to the decision-making style of using the minimal amount of information to reach a “good enough” solution.
Bounded rationality is part of Herbert Simon’s (administrative) model of decision making, which proposes that decision makers are not always completely rational in making choices. Instead, time and resources limit their consideration of alternatives, so they tend to consider alternatives only until a satisfactory one is identified.
Cognitive dissonance theory predicts that, when we have two conflicting cognitions (e.g., I like the club but they don’t want me” ), we’ll be motivated to reduce the tension that this causes by changing one of our cognitions.
Research on the self-serving bias has found support for all of the following conclusions except
Select one:
A. it is more likely to occur in individuals with high self-esteem than low self-esteem.
B. it may be present both under conditions of anonymity and in the presence of an audience.
C. failure is more likely to be attributed to external factors when the person expects future improvement.
D. it operates in the same manner across cultures.
Correct Answer is: D
The self-serving bias refers to the tendency to attribute one’s own successes to internal factors and one’s failures to external factors–i.e., to take credit for one’s successes and place blame for one’s failures. Research shows that the self-serving bias does not operate the same way across cultures, and in fact may be reversed in more collectivist cultures. For example, a study of Japanese students found that on a difficult memory task, they were more likely to attribute their failures to internal factors and their successes to external factors. Some authors therefore have concluded that a modesty bias rather than a self-serving bias occurs in some cultures.
The other choices are true of the self-serving bias. Self-esteem mediates its likelihood of operating; those with high self-esteem are more likely to display it than those with low self-esteem.
it may be present both under conditions of anonymity and in the presence of an audience.
And as stated by this choice, it has been shown equally likely to operate under conditions of anonymity and in the presence of an audience (however, in collectivist cultures, conditions of anonymity may evoke it when a modesty bias might otherwise be more likely).
Finally, expectation of future improvement is another mediating variable–attribution of failures to internal factors is more likely when a person expects future successes.
