Social Psychology

Question 1

Which of the following is true concerning primate psychology?

Select one:
1. Aggressive male baboons have longer life expectancy
2. Aggression is higher during periods of instability
3. Young baboons learn appropriate expression of aggression by observing their peers
4. Low ranking baboons are not aggressive
5. Among baboons, females are not aggressive

Answer 1

Aggression is higher during periods of instability

During periods of instability such as rank transition, baboons show higher levels of aggression. This leads
to high cortisol levels and stress among the animals.

Question 1

In a social psychology experiment, audience attended a convention where speakers were randomly
allocated to speak in favour of or against an important political issue. The audience were told beforehand
that the attitudes of the speakers were determined by a coin toss. Despite this, the subjects rated speakers
who spoke in favour of the subject as having on average a more positive attitude towards the issue at stake than those who spoke against it. Which of the following does this indicate?

Select one:
1. Pygmalion effect
2. Actor-observer bias
3. Just world phenomenon
4. Fundamental attribution error
5. Hawthorne effect

Answer 1

Fundamental attribution error

We tend to explain behaviour in terms of internal disposition, such as personality traits, abilities, motives, etc. as opposed to external situational factors - this is called as Fundamental Attribution Error.

Question 2

“Aggression is a consequence of frustration”. Who proposed this hypothesis?

Select one:
1. The cue hypothesis of aggression
2. Lazarus and Folkman
3. Dollard’s frustration-aggression hypothesis
4. Friedman and Rosenman
5. Lorenz ethological studies

Answer 2

Dollard’s frustration-aggression hypothesis

According to Lorenz, aggression in nonhumans is essentially destructive and is characterised by
ritualisation and appeasement. But in humans it is basically destructive and has become distorted.
According to Berkowitz, aggressive-cue hypothesis frustration provokes anger, not aggression. For this
anger to be expressed as aggression, certain environmental cues are needed.

Question 3

Task completion is poor in which of the following types of leadership?

Select one:
1. Democratic leaderships
2. Autocratic leadership style
3. Controlling
4. Rigid
5. Laissez-faire leadership

Answer 3

Laissez-faire leadership

Successful leadership is determined both by the characteristics of the leader and the characteristics of the situation. This is known as contingency theory of leadership. Autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire are
leadership types proposed by Lewin. Productivity is higher in laissez-faire leadership than in autocratic
leadership. Task completion is good in autocratic and democratic leaderships but poor in groups led by a
leader with laissez-faire style.

Question 4

Which of the following describes a self-serving bias?

Select one:
1. A person attributes other people’s behaviour to internal sources
2. A person attributes other people’s behaviour to external sources
3. A person attributes successes to external sources
4. A person attributes successes to internal sources
5. A person attributes failures to internal sources

Answer 4

A person attributes successes to internal sources

Self-serving bias- people show a strong bias towards attributing their success to internal causes while
attributing failures to situational causes.

Question 5

Which of the following correctly describes fundamental attribution error?

Select one:
1. Refusing to accept one’s own errors
2. Denying the fundamental flaws behind one’s own negative behaviour
3. Attributing others mistakes to the context in which the mistakes occur
4. Attributing one’s own mistakes to one’s character and personality
5. Attributing others mistakes to their personal dispositions

Answer 5

Attributing others mistakes to their personal dispositions

Fundamental Attribution Error refers to overestimating dispositional factors and not situational factors while
attributing causes to other’s behaviours. This allows a sense of predictability to be developed about the
other person. It is more pronounced if the attributed behaviour is negative and undesirable.

Question 6

Attitudes do not always correlate with one’s behaviours. The attitudes that most accurately predict
behaviour are those that are

Select one:
1. Broad and not task specific
2. Not emotionally valued
3. Flexible and changeable
4. Not based on one’s own life experiences
5. Strong and consistent

Answer 6

Strong and consistent

Attitudes predict behaviour if
1. They are strong and consistent
2. Based on direct experience
3. Specifically relate to the behaviour being predicted.

Question 7

The most common effect of cognitive dissonance is

Select one:
1. Memory disturbances
2. Formal thought disorder
3. Cognitive distortions
4. Psychological distress
5. Behavioural modification

Answer 7

Psychological distress

‘Cognitive dissonance’ is an aversive psychological state aroused when there is a discrepancy between
actions and attitudes (Festinger, 1957). In situations when actions cannot be reversed, or when doing so
requires great effort, adjusting attitudes to be in line with decisions often reduces this discrepancy.

Question 8

According to the frustration-aggression hypothesis which of the following is false?

Select one:
1. Aggression is the one of the many possible responses to frustration
2. Fear of punishment can inhibit aggression
3. Aggression is driven by a need to nullify frustration
4. Unavailability of the frustrator can inhibit aggression
5. Unexpressed frustration cannot be displaced onto an innocent target

Answer 8

Unexpressed frustration cannot be displaced onto an innocent target

The frustration-aggression hypothesis of Dollard considers aggression to be one of the many possible
products of frustration. In a meta-analysis including 49 studies, Marcus-Newhall, Pedersen, Carlson and
Miller (2000) found consistent evidence that frustrated individuals show displacement of aggression from
the source of the frustration onto a less powerful or more accessible target.

Question 9

Which one of the following is a secondary drive?

Select one:
1. Sex
2. None of the above
3. Play
4. Food
5. Water

Answer 9

Play

In theories of motivation, Mowrer distinguished between primary and secondary drives. Primary drives or survival drives are those, which are guided by a physiological need like hunger or thirst and the primary reinforcers include food water and sex. Competence or secondary drives are those, which people seek out, but which do not fulfil a physiological need Eg play. Primary motives come and go. Secondary drives are continuous motives.

Question 10

A patient feels unhappy with respect to one aspect of his life. Soon he observes that this unhappiness
affects several other aspects of his life as well, resulting in a depressed state of mind. Which of the
following types of cognitive bias is most likely to be relevant to this description?

Select one:
1. Domino effect
2. Recall bias
3. Stockholm effect
4. Hawthorne effect
5. Attributional fallacy

Answer 10

Domino effect

Domino effect is the psychological equivalent of the butterfly effect in chaos theory. According to this notion, large changes within a system or structure often depends on the initial conditions in which a small change can result in a large catastrophe

Question 11

Which one among the following is defined by how much we approve of ourselves and how worthy we think of ourselves?

Select one:
1. Self efficacy
2. Self esteem
3. Self image
4. Self actualisation
5. Self awareness

Answer 11

Self esteem

This is self-esteem. Self-image may be defined as the way we think we are like and how we describe
ourselves. Self-efficacy is a term referring to the belief that we can perform adequately in a given situation.
Self-awareness is the state of being or ability to be, consciously aware of oneself. Humans and other great
apes are believed to have this capacity. Self-actualisation: It is the motive to realise one’s full potential.

According to Maslow’s theory, self-actualised people have an acceptance of who they are despite their
faults and limitations and experience a drive to be creative in all aspects of their lives.

Question 12

Which of the following is a behavioural component of Allport’s concept of prejudice?

Select one:
1. Circumlocution
2. Stereotype
3. Discrimination
4. Moral attack
5. Hostility

Answer 12

Discrimination

Prejudice is essentially an attitude. Hence, it has
1. Cognitive component - stereotypes;
2. Affective component - hostility;
3. Behavioural component - which according to Allport can be Anti-locution, avoidance, discrimination, physical attack or extermination in terms of increasing severity.

Question 13

The theory of mind is not well developed in which of the following disorders?

Select one:
1. All of the above
2. Anxiety disorders
3. Psychosomatic disorders
4. Depressive disorders
5. Autistic spectrum disorders

Answer 13

Autistic spectrum disorders

Theory of mind: An understanding that other people possess mental states that involve ideas and views of
the world that are different from our own. Children typically develop the theory of mind around four years of age. This ability has been implicated to be absent in autistic disorder. Many of the difficulties experienced
by children with autism such as communication and interpersonal difficulties might be explained in terms of an absence of the theory of mind.

Question 14

What factor is the most influential in the development of friendly relationships?

Select one:
1. Complementarity
2. Personal similarity
3. Proximity
4. Reciprocity
5. Attractiveness

Answer 14

Proximity

A classic study of beginning friendship was reported by Theodore Newcomb in The Acquaintance Process
(1961). Newcomb identified four factors that affect the probability of making an acquaintance.

1. Proximity.
   We are more likely to get to know somebody with whom we have regular contact.
2. Reciprocity. We like people who like us.
3. Similarity. We like people who share our values and beliefs.
4. Complementarity. We are attracted to people whose skills and abilities are complementary to our own.

Complementary means different but compatible and mutually beneficial, like people with different skills who work together for acommon purpose.

Question 15

The classic studies by Milgram explain the concept of

Select one:
1. Social norms
2. Persuasion
3. Motivation
4. Conformity
5. Obedience

Answer 15

Obedience

The classic studies by Milgram showing that people would obey orders under certain conditions even if
these exceeded the bounds of their usual beliefs explain the social psychology of obedience. Obedience is influenced by various factors including the perceived authority and powerfulness of the commander.

Question 16

A mother of an autistic child is curious to know the reason behind her son’s apparent lack of empathy
towards other children of similar age. Which of the following concept is relevant to address her question?

Select one:
1. Attribution error
2. Cerebellar dysplasia
3. Precontemplative stage
4. Theory of mind
5. Cognitive dissonance

Answer 16

Theory of mind

Perspective taking is explained on the basis of the theory of mind. Lack of ToM may be the explanation for the apparent lack of empathy among children with autism.

Question 17

The attributional bias seen in persecutory delusions are

Select one:
1. Internal attribution for positive events
2. Internal attribution for negative events
3. External attribution for negative events
4. Internal attribution for all events
5. External attribution for positive events

Answer 17

External attribution for negative events

It has been proposed that individuals with persecutory delusions make excessive external attributions of the
cause for negative events. It remains unclear from empirical research findings whether the externalizing
bias is also common to other psychotic symptom presentations.

Question 18

Which of the following increases the effectiveness of a persuasive communication?

Select one:
1. Mass media communication
2. High intensity urging
3. A credible communicator
4. High receiver intelligence
5. High cognitive dissonance

Answer 18

A credible communicator

Carl Hovland, at Yale University, studied various factors affecting persuasion.The credibility of a perceived message is a crucial factor in persuasion (Hovland and Weiss, 1951); a health report is more persuasive if it is published in a professional medical journal, than in a tabloid.

Question 19

The power in a person due to his ability to provide positive accomplishments is known as

Select one:
1. Expert power
2. Legitimate power
3. Reward power
4. Referent power
5. Coercive power

Answer 19

Reward power

Reward power is the power that is conveyed through rewarding individuals for compliance with one’s
wishes. This may be achieved through giving bonuses, raises, a promotion, and extra time off from work,
etc. Coercive power is the power to punish. Referent power is the power through identification with the leader. Legitimate power is power bestowed by virtue of social position. Expert power is power resulting
having greater knowledge or skills.

Question 20

“The individual behaviour of group members is less important than that of the whole group”. What is this
concept called?

Select one:
1. Group think
2. Sociogram
3. Deindividuation
4. Risky shift phenomenon
5. Polarisation

Answer 20

Deindividuation

The individual behaviour of group members is less important than that of the whole group. This is called
deindividuation. It is a process where people lose their sense of socialised individual identity and resort to
unsocialized and antisocial behaviours. People normally refrain from acting in an aggressive and selfish manner in part because they are easily identifiable in societies that have strong norms against such uncivilised behaviour. In certain situations such as in crowds, these restraints are relaxed, and people may engage in antisocial behaviour (e.g. the Tottenham violence of August 2011). The larger the group, the greater the anonymity and the greater the difficulty in identifying a single individual. But in polarization, when individuals express their opinions separately and then group to decide upon the same matter the eventual outcome is likely to be more extreme than that of the group average. Risky shift phenomenon: people tend to make riskier decisions when working as members of a group than they would make when making the same decision as individuals. Groupthink is the desire to achieve consensus and avoid dissent in group decisions. Sociogram developed by Moreno is a graphical representation of relationships in a group.

Question 21

Individuals often tend not to intervene when someone seeks help, especially when others who can offer
help are present in the vicinity. In social psychology, this phenomenon is known as

Select one:
1. Diffusion of responsibility
2. Persuasion
3. Bystander intervention
4. Obedience
5. Pluralistic ignorance

Answer 21

Diffusion of responsibility

Diffusion of responsibility: people feel that the responsibility is not theirs, and someone else will do
something. In pluralistic ignorance, members of a group convince each other that there is no problem that requires intervention.

Question 22

Which of the following is considered to be a factor of social influence when a group makes a polarised
decision?

Select one:
1. Normative influence
2. Summative influence
3. Disintegrative influence
4. Authoritative influence
5. Formative influence

Answer 22

Normative influence

People have a need not to appear odd or ‘stick out’ as a sore thumb. So we say yes often to what the others say.

Question 23

Vulnerability to conform with the group is more in those that are

Select one:
1. Less intelligent
2. Self-reliant
3. Expressive.
4. Socially able
5. Intelligent

Answer 23

Less intillegent

Conformity refers to the normative social influence that makes an individual to agree with the group view
despite holding a different personal view. Experiments by Asch using a line length judging task in a group
setting explained various features of conformity seen in social settings. Conformity increases with group
number (maximum effect with three) and the perceived high status of other group members. Less intelligent members conform more than those with higher IQ. The presence of dissent in the group reduces conformity.

Question 24

The semantic differential scale may be subject to which of the following problems?

Select one:
1. All of the above
2. Positional response bias
3. Recall Bias
4. Selection bias
5. Performance bias

Answer 24

Positional response bias

The semantic differential scale is a visual analogue scale (7 points) with two polarized adjectives at either
extremes separated by a line. The subjects mark their attitudes between the two. It may be subject to
positional response bias.

Positional response bias: one type of response set, as selecting one response position on multiple-choice tests significantly more often, regardless of item content.

Question 25

The Likert scale consists of

Select one:
1. Three responses to each statement
2. Four responses to each statement
3. Five responses to each statement
4. Six responses to each statement
5. Seven responses to each statement

Answer 25

Five responses to each statement

The Likert scale consists of five responses to each statement- Agree/disagree on a five-point scale. These
are quick to design, but they are relatively sensitive. The Thurston scale has equal intervals between
successive points on the scale. A range of statements is presented, and you tick those you agree with.

Question 26

Which of the following can reduce groupthink?

Select one:
1. Strong chairperson
2. Financial incentives
3. Unplanned meetings of the group
4. Fewer group members
5. Open debate

Answer 26

Open debate

Various strategies that can reduce groupthink include encouraging open debate, acknowledging the
presence of groupthink, seeking external opinion, splitting the group into smaller units for discussion,
holding last chance meetings to encourage challenges and reserving leader’s opinions until after the groups
discussion has been completed.

Question 27

Which of the following factors reduce cognitive dissonance?

Select one:
High probability of unpleasant consequences
Adding one or more alternative cognitions
Awareness of responsibility for consequences
Low pressure to comply
Increased choice of options

Answer 27

Adding one or more alternative cognitions

Festinger proposed the cognitive dissonance theory in 1957. Individuals strive for consistency in their
attitudes with discomfort or dissonance arising if two cognitions are held that are inconsistent. Dissonance
is increased by A. Low pressure to comply; B. Wide perceived choice of options C. Awareness of
responsibility for consequences D. Unpleasant consequences for others. Dissonance is lowered if the
behaviour is altered; cognitions are dismissed, and new cognitions are added.

Question 28

In a small group situation, under which of the following conditions departures from norms are most likely to be tolerated?

Select one:
1. The setting is private
2. Presence of strong group leadership
3. The norms were stated frequently during previous meetings
4. Dissent comes from a member with strong credentials
5. A consensus was reached before the dissent was expressed

Answer 28

Dissent comes from a member with strong credentials

Group members may wish to ignore a norm if it is burdensome or a source of punishment. Norm rejection is more easily achieved in the absence of enforcement and more readily tolerated if the rejecting member possesses strengths and abilities needed by the group. A norm that has been frequently and clearly stated is more difficult to avoid because members cannot then claim ignorance or misinterpretation. The threat of censure or punishment is a strong deter- rent to violation of group norms, especially if the group is very
cohesive and if the setting is one of privacy.

Question 29

A depressed patient has shown a good degree of improvement in her sleep pattern after initiating a new
treatment. Though objectively she continues to be depressed, when using a self-rated scale to monitor her symptoms, she significantly overrates the degree of improvement in her mood and other domains. This
effect is called

Select one:
1. Drift effect
2. Stockholm effect
3. Domino effect
4. Hawthorne effect
5. Halo effect

Answer 29

Halo effect

The halo effect refers to a cognitive bias whereby the perception of a particular trait is influenced by the
perception of other related traits. This phenomenon is best established in the study of physical
attractiveness. More positive personality traits are often ascribed to individuals who are more attractive,
across races and ages.

Question 30

At what age do children pass the mirror test?

Select one:
1. 6 Months of age
2. 9 Months of age
3. 3 Months of age
4.18 months of age
5. 12 Months of age

Answer 30

18 months of age

Mirror test- A test for self-recognition in which the child using its mirror image to touch a dot on its nose is achieved at 18 months of age.

Question 31

The first aspect of self-concept to develop is the

Select one:
1. Self actualisation
2. Self efficacy
3. Self image
4. Self esteem
5. Bodily self

Answer 31

Bodily self

Bodily self-refers to the ability to differentiate one’s own body from that of others.

Question 32

Which of the following is most likely to influence individuals to conform to the views of the group?

Select one:
1. Other individuals being friends
2. Older individuals
3. Individuals feel accepted by the group
4. Large group size
5. Ambiguous tasks

Answer 32

Ambiguous tasks

Ambiguous tasks tend to lead to more conformity as people may feel less certain of their own ideas.

Question 33

In Milgram’s obedience experiments, the factors that increased obedience include all except

Select one:
1. Administering by proxy
2. Relieving the subject from responsibility of actions
3. Subject achieving an agentic state
4. Proximity to the shocked victim
5. Authority figure providing instructions

Answer 33

Proximity to the shocked victim. (Millgram’s experiment of instructing people to shock others in another room)

Being proximal to shocked victim will reduce shock administering behaviour and so reduce obedience. If you are closer to the opposite party, you are less likely to be obedient.

Question 34

Which of the following accurately reflects instrumental aggression?

Select one:
1. It is often impulsive
2. It is carried out using destructive weapons
3. It is often planned
4. It is motivated by negative feelings
5. It is often purposeless

Answer 34

It is often planned

Instrumental aggression is carried out for the purpose of achieving a particular goal, e.g., kidnapping for
ransom. Hence, it is often planned and not impulsive. Hostile (also called angry or affective) aggression is
motivated by the need to express negative feelings, such as anger.

Question 35

Several people at a train station see an elderly man asking for help. None of the onlookers offer to help.
This is explained by

Select one:
1. Group think
2. Halo effect
3. Risky shift phenomenon
4. Genovese effect
5. Group polarization

Answer 35

Genovese effect

When alone, individuals will typically intervene if another person is in need of help: this is called bystander intervention. But intervention becomes less likely to an extent that no single person will intervene from a crowd or group of observers when someone is in need of help. This is called bystander apathy or Genovese effect.

Question 36

Scapegoating refers to

Select one:
1. Tension between racial groups rise when the economic conditions are similar
2. Encouraging conflicts with a political motive
3. Sexual assault on a vulnerable group leading to conflicts
4. Lack of empathy on perpetrators of abuse
5. Captives becoming emotionally attached to the captivators

Answer 36

Tension between racial groups rise when the economic conditions are similar

Scapegoats are singled out victims who are blamed and discriminated by virtue of their group membership (e.g. racial group, work group, etc.). Scapegoating involves political and economic factors as well. Under the economic and political competition model, when resources are relatively scarce, the dominant group in society will try to exploit [people from underrepresented groups] for material gain. Discrimination and prejudice are heightened during times of tension and increased competition over limited resources. Hovland and Sears showed that between 1882 and 1930, there was a direct relationship between the price of cotton and the number of lynchings of Blacks. As the price of cotton decreased, the number of lynchings increased. In the aftermath of the Tokyo Earthquake of 1923, which claimed the lives of 100,000 people, several thousand Koreans were said to be massacred. The racial hatred allegedly stemmed from the competition from the influx of Korean labor for scarce jobs that were available.

Question 37

Which of the following statements does not reduce cognitive dissonance in a cocaine user?

Select one:
1. “I have more chances of dying when crossing a road than injecting cocaine”
2. “Smoking is worse killer than cocaine use”
3. “Alcohol affects the whole body while cocaine is not that bad”
4. “I like cocaine very much”
5. “Even Freud used cocaine in those days, there must be something good about it”.

Answer 37

“I like cocaine very much”

‘I like cocaine very much’ is likely to increase not decrease the dissonance.

Question 38

The presence of others reduces task performance. This is called

Select one:
1. Group polarization
2. Group think
3. Social facilitation
4. Risky shift phenomenon
5. Social loafing

Answer 38

Social loafing

The presence of others reduces task performance. This has been called social loafing. Ringelmann
demonstrated it in the 1880s by observing tug-of-war teams. He demonstrated that the more people there
were in a team, the less the effort made by each person in the team.

Question 39

The vulnerability to conform is greater in individuals with which of the following characteristic features?

Select one:
1. Socially able
2. Naive
3. Very expressive
4. Highly intelligent
5. Self reliant

Answer 39

Naive

People of high status more likely to induce conformity while people of low status more likely to conform.
Conformity increases with increasing group size, but after five people the effect diminishes. People who are
naive are more likely to conform, especially to members of their own group and less likely to conform to members of another group.

Question 40

The term ‘cognitive dissonance’ was coined by

Select one:
1. McClelland
2. Schacter
3. Festinger
4. Beck
5. Bard

Answer 40

Festinger

Festinger coined the term ‘cognitive dissonance’.

Question 41

Tom is a student who attributes a good grade on an exam to his intelligence and hard work but a poor grade to the teacher’s poor ability and unfair test questions. He is exhibiting;

Select one:
1. Negativity bias
2. Attentional bias
3. Barnum effect
4. Self serving bias
5. Just world hypothesis

Answer 41

Self serving bias

A self-serving attributional bias refers to individuals attributing their successes to internal or personal factors but attributing their failures to external or situational factors. This bias is a mechanism for individuals to protect or enhance their own self-esteem.

Question 42

If a person’s performance of a task is influenced by test procedures used, this is called

Select one:
1. Hawthorne effect
2. Halo effect
3. Pygmalion effect
4. Practice effect
5. Barnham effect

Answer 42

Hawthorne effect

The Hawthorne effect in psychology refers to the tendency of some people to work harder and perform
better when they are a part of an experiment. This is because of the fact that individuals often change their
behavior simply due to the attention they are receiving from researchers.

Question 43

A team leader is constantly calling for her group to focus on its commitment to the overall outcomes more than anything else. She is following a

Select one:
1. Relationship oriented style
2. Autocratic style
3. Persuasive style
4. Coercive style
5. Task oriented style

Answer 43

Persuasive style

Persuasion is the ability to motivate and enthuse the group to pursue the goal. It differs from coercion
where power is used to enforce change through rewards and punishment. Modern leadership is the very antithesis of coercion because it involves a degree of consensus rather than blind obedience.

Question 44

Which of the following is correct with regard to cognitive dissonance? It is a:

Select one:
1. Type of medicolegal plea
2. Phenomenon of group think
3. Product of inconsistent cognitions
4. Method of choice for solving abstract problems
5. Form of thought disorder

Answer 44

Product of inconsistent cognitions

The principle of cognitive consistency is the focus of Festinger’s (1957) theory of cognitive dissonance. This
theory starts from the idea that we seek consistency in our beliefs and attitudes in any situation where two
cognitions are inconsistent.

Question 45

In a dark room, several lights are turned on and off in rapid succession. An observer perceives a single light
as moving from one position to the next rather than different lights coming on and off at different positions.
What is this called?

Select one:
1. Visual hallucination
2. Pseudohallucination
3. Cocktail party phenomenon
4. Phi phenomenon
5. None of the above

Answer 45

Phi phenomenon

The phi phenomenon is an optical illusion (Max Wertheimer, 1912), based on the principle that the human eye is capable of perceiving movement from pieces of information, such as repetition (flickering) of images.
In other words, from a slideshow of a group of frozen images presented at a certain speed, we will perceive
a constantly moving image. This is the principle behind motion pictures.

Question 46

A candidate who has appeared for a mock exam before the actual exam scores better than a candidate
who has not. This is called

Select one:
1. Practice effect
2. Hawthorne effect
3. Observer effect
4. Regression of mean
5. Halo effect

Answer 46

Practice effect

Practice effects occur when a participant in an experiment performs the same task twice or more after an interval. Subjects can either have a positive (subjects become better at performing the task) or negative (subjects become worse at performing the task) effect. Repeated measures designs are almost always affected by practice effects.