Question 1

The abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib best illustrates

Accepted Answer

A)  the power of personality. 
B)  the strength of a powerful situation. 
C)  the role of prejudice in decision-making. 
D)  how attitudes lead to behavior.

Question 2

You belong to a study group that your math instructor assigned you to in the beginning of the semester. Your group's task is to solve several problems every week. What type of group, according to your text, would lead to optimal performance?

Accepted Answer

A)  a highly cohesive group 
B)  a group in which the members strongly dislike one another 
C)  a group that isn't all that cohesive 
D)  a mixed-gender group

Question 3

What is a social dilemma? Provide an example of a particular kind of social dilemma, and discuss how social dilemmas can be resolved.

Accepted Answer

The answer of What is a social dilemma? Provide an...

Question 4

Research (Twenge, 2001) found that women's self-ratings of assertiveness mirrored the opportunities for women that were available socially, becoming more assertive during those times when women's roles were more independent and less assertive when women's roles became more dependent. According to the text, the "take-home" message of this finding is that

Accepted Answer

A)  the social roles that people play can influence their personalities. 
B)  people's personalities determine the social roles they are willing to assume. 
C)  women are becoming more dominant than men. 
D)  women are becoming more independent.

Question 5

Recall that Zajonc and his colleagues (1969) employed the lowly cockroach in their studies of social facilitation. In the presence of other cockroaches, roaches would run faster down a straightaway to escape a bright light than they would alone, but took longer in the presence of a cockroach audience when the escape route was more complicated (i.e., when they had to run a maze). These findings support the idea that

Accepted Answer

A)  members of even the lowliest species experience evaluation apprehension. 
B)  cockroaches differ from humans in their response to other members of their species. 
C)  the presence of other members of a species elicits the most dominant response. 
D)  the presence of other members of a species impedes the most dominant response.

Question 6

Complete the following analogy regarding social facilitation. Better: ________ :: worse: ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  simple; complex 
B)  complex; simple 
C)  group; individual 
D)  physical; academic

Question 7

When people or roaches undertake a difficult task, the presence of others ________ performance; when they undertake a simple task, the presence of others ________ performance.

Accepted Answer

A)  enhances; impairs 
B)  diminishes; has no effect on 
C)  has no effect on; enhances 
D)  impairs; enhances

Question 8

According to the authors of your text, which of the following factors can help to predict how likely a person is to social loaf?

Accepted Answer

A)  gender and personality 
B)  intelligence and culture 
C)  gender and culture 
D)  personality and intelligence

Question 9

When your roommate enters the room while you're typing an email, it can make you uncomfortable. The roommate isn't judging you, but you may still feel uncomfortable, according to Zajonc, because the roommate's mere presence is

Accepted Answer

A)  evaluative. 
B)  fear-arousing. 
C)  arousing. 
D)  pleasurable.

Question 10

Two different interpretations have been proposed to explain group polarization. The persuasive arguments interpretation is to ________ as the social comparison interpretation is to ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  risky shift; conservative shift 
B)  informational social influence; normative social influence 
C)  task-oriented leader; relationship-oriented leader 
D)  groupthink; adaptive decision-making

Question 11

According to Robert Zajonc's (1969, 1980) social facilitation theory, would you play pool better alone, or when others are observing you? Explain your answer.

Accepted Answer

The answer of According to Robert Zajonc's (1969, 1980) social...

Question 12

Your roommate really detests studying in a quiet solitary space. Based on research presented in this chapter , what would you recommend your roommate do while studying for a difficult exam?

Accepted Answer

A)  watch a favorite TV show while studying 
B)  study in front of a poster of his or her favorite TV character 
C)  have the TV on in the background, but only shows where none of the characters are really known 
D)  turn the TV off, but make sure the desktop background is visible and is a photo of his or her favorite actor

Question 13

Which of the following statements is true? Deindividuation

Accepted Answer

A)  always results in negative behaviors. 
B)  increases self-awareness, but greatly reduces a person's feelings of accountability for his or her behavior. 
C)  results in people feeling that there is little chance that they will be caught behaving badly. 
D)  can be induced by instructing people to pay attention to the people around them.

Question 14

One reason why the presence of others is arousing is that it can be ________, which is a very cognitive explanation as to why people tend to perform worse at more difficult tasks in the presence of others.

Accepted Answer

A)  enlightening 
B)  stimulating 
C)  joyous 
D)  distracting

Question 15

Members of the school board were tentatively considering a proposal to institute the wearing of uniforms in the elementary and middle school grades. After their last meeting, they are now strongly in favor of the proposal. This illustrates the phenomenon known as

Accepted Answer

A)  groupthink. 
B)  group polarization. 
C)  deindividuation. 
D)  social facilitation.

Question 16

The authors of your text cite the strategic disaster of the Bay of Pigs in 1961 as an example of

Accepted Answer

A)  how individuals usually make worse decisions than groups do. 
B)  the only instance in which a group has made a poor decision. 
C)  how groups of experts can make poor decisions. 
D)  the narrow-mindedness of politicians.

Question 17

You have been asked to organize a problem-solving meeting. Based on what you learned in social psychology, which of the following is not a good way to make sure unique information gets shared at the meeting?

Accepted Answer

A)  Make the meeting long enough so that unique information has time to be shared. 
B)  Skip asking for everyone's initial ideas and preferences at the beginning of the meeting. 
C)  Before the meeting, assign certain people to focus on specific parts of the problem. 
D)  Have a very forceful, directive leader to handle the meeting.

Question 18

Compare and contrast deindividuation and social loafing.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Compare and contrast deindividuation and social loafing....

Question 19

In Chapter 9, the authors describe decisions made as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This example illustrates that

Accepted Answer

A)  it is preferable to make group decisions when groups are cohesive. 
B)  group decision making is not necessarily preferable to individual decision making. 
C)  at least in foreign policy matters, threats often work better than negotiations. 
D)  at least in foreign policy matters, negotiations are preferable to threats.

Question 20

One reason why people may engage in social loafing in groups is that they feel

Accepted Answer

A)  less noticeable. 
B)  more emotional. 
C)  conspicuous. 
D)  independent.

Exam 9: Group Processes: Influence in Social Groups