Exam 1: Introducing Social Psychology

Why is a scientific approach preferable to reliance on folk wisdom and common sense?

After reading Chapter 1, if you were to advise producers of a safe-sex television campaign, what would you tell them?

Social psychologists' emphasis on construals of social situations has its roots in __________ psychology.

In the long run, which will help you determine what steps you need to take to improve your study skills for your social psychology class?

One of Kurt Lewin's boldest intellectual contributions to social psychology was __________.

When asked why she is always losing things, Veronique replies, "I'm not careless. It's just that I have more important things to think about." This response would be predicted by a social psychologist who understands Veronique's __________ motive.

Compare the self-esteem approach and the social cognition approach in terms of the motivations assumed to underlie human behavior.

Most of the early social psychologists arrived in the U.S. from __________.

Complete the following analogy, based on information from your text: behaviorism is to __________ as Gestalt psychology is to __________.

Assume that, contrary to research findings, people who undergo a severe initiation to join a group actually like the group less than do people who undergo a mild initiation. If these findings were true, they would provide support for a __________ approach to social influence.

In which of the following examples does the need for accurate information most conflict with the need for self-esteem?

In their approach to understanding social behavior, social psychologists are most similar to __________.

The social cognition approach is based on the notion that humans are often motivated to __________.

Both social psychologists and sociologists are interested in aggression. Compared with a sociologist, a social psychologist is most likely to ask which of the following questions?

Which of the following questions would be of most interest to a social cognition researcher?

Define the term "fundamental attribution error" and provide an example of this phenomenon that might occur in daily life.

Ted likes Jim and smiles at him every chance he gets. Jim wonders why Ted is always smirking at him sarcastically and studiously avoids him. Ted thinks he's being friendly and cannot understand Jim's standoffishness; Jim thinks Ted is a jerk for continuing to smirk at him without explanation. This difference illustrates the role of __________ in explaining social behavior.

Many fraternities, sororities, and sports teams have initiation rituals. For example, at one school, all the members of the soccer team must wear unusual clothing everywhere on campus for an entire day and then have embarrassing haircuts. These rituals try to capitalize on the role of __________ in increasing commitment via self-justification.

Justin isn't sure if he wants to date Mary, with whom he shares many similarities, or Emma, who is very different from him. His friend says, "Opposites attract," and advises him to date Emma. But his brother says, "Birds of a feather flock together," and suggests that he pursue Mary. This best exemplifies that __________.

Consider the following research question: "Have no-fault divorce laws increased the rate of divorce in the United States?" This question is most likely to be asked by a __________.