Question 1

Which of the following constructs is measured using items such as "I like situations that require a lot of thinking" and "I prefer my life to be filled with puzzles to solve"?

Accepted Answer

A)  Need for cognition 
B)  Need for closure 
C)  Private self-consciousness 
D)  Achievement motivation

Question 2

The low-ball technique does NOT appear to actually be effective in influencing people or changing their behavior.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 3

Negative attitude change (or the boomerang effect) often occurs when people experience ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  psychological reactance 
B)  inoculation 
C)  yielding 
D)  sensory overload

Question 4

Instead of using the standard queries-"Spare any change?" or "Spare a dollar?"-a homeless person asks passerby, "Spare four hundred dollars and thirty-seven cents?" She is apparently making use of the ____ technique of social influence.

Accepted Answer

A)  door-in-the-face 
B)  labeling 
C)  foot-in-the-door 
D)  pique

Question 5

What does the research suggest about the role of distraction in persuasion?

Accepted Answer

A)  Distracting your audience always decreases persuasion. 
B)  Distracting your audience always increases persuasion. 
C)  Distracting your audience decreases persuasion when you have a strong argument, but increases persuasion when you have a weak argument. 
D)  Distracting your audience decreases persuasion when you have a weak argument, but increases persuasion when you have a strong argument.

Question 6

Which of the following social influence techniques is based on capturing and disrupting attention?

Accepted Answer

A)  The labeling technique 
B)  The bait-and-switch 
C)  The low-ball technique 
D)  The pique technique

Question 7

When people believe that someone is trying to persuade them of something (and thus take away their freedom of choice), they experience a negative emotional response called ____________________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of When people believe that someone is trying...

Question 8

Social psychologists who study persuasion use the term "source" to refer to ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  the individual who delivers a message 
B)  the core reason why a person is persuaded 
C)  the starting point of a persuasive argument 
D)  the data, or information, used to back up a persuasive argument

Question 9

Suppose that Frank has relatively low self-esteem, but that his friend Omar has relatively high self-esteem. And suppose that the two friends are approached by a local political group, which attempts to educate them about its causes and persuade them to sign several petitions. Given the research on self-esteem and persuasion, what should we expect?

Accepted Answer

A)  Frank should be more open to talking with the group, and more inclined to sign on with them. 
B)  Omar should be more open to talking with the group, and more inclined to sign on with them. 
C)  Frank should be more open to talking with the group, but Omar should be more inclined to sign on with them. 
D)  Omar should be more open to talking with the group, but Frank should be more inclined to sign on with them.

Question 10

One potential problem with fast talking and persuasion is that ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  fast talkers with strong arguments may not be as effective if speaking to a person who likes to think a lot 
B)  fast talkers with weak arguments may not be as effective if speaking to a person who likes to think a lot 
C)  fast talkers with strong arguments may not be as effective if speaking to a person who does not enjoy thinking 
D)  fast talkers with weak arguments may not be as effective if speaking to a person who does not enjoy thinking

Question 11

Which of the following statements about speed of speech and persuasion is most accurate?

Accepted Answer

A)  In general, fast talkers are more persuasive. 
B)  In general, slow talkers are more persuasive. 
C)  In general, moderate talkers are more persuasive. 
D)  Speed of speech generally has no impact on persuasiveness.

Question 12

Joe is a freshman at Princeton University. All else being equal, who will be most persuasive to him based on principles of source likeability?

Accepted Answer

A)  Jill, a freshman at University of Washington 
B)  John, a senior at Harvard 
C)  Jennifer, a medical student at University of Illinois 
D)  Jordan, a freshman at Princeton University

Question 13

Carlos is a freelance graphic designer. Last month, a client hired him to design a website, at a flat rate of $1000. Carlos met with the client numerous times to sketch out the project, and engaged in a fair amount of background research. Just as he was getting ready to sign a contract for the job, the client mentioned, "Oh, by the way, I also need you to design three catalog covers under your contract." Even though Carlos would never design a website AND three catalog covers for just $1000, he had already invested so much time and energy in this client that he ended up just saying yes to everything. Carlos told his friends that he was "tricked" by the client. Social psychologists would say that he was a victim of ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  legitimization-of-paltry-favors technique 
B)  low-ball technique 
C)  labeling technique 
D)  foot-in-the-door technique

Question 14

The term ____ refers to an influence technique based on commitment, wherein the influencer first gets a person to comply with a seemingly low-cost request and only later reveals hidden additional costs to the person.

Accepted Answer

A)  labeling technique 
B)  legitimization-of-paltry-favors technique 
C)  foot-in-the-door technique 
D)  low-ball technique

Question 15

In Asch's line-judging studies on conformity, it was found that conformity declined when ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  group size increased from 2 people to 7 people 
B)  group size decreased from 20 people to 15 people 
C)  there was a "dissenter" in the group who always gave the correct response 
D)  groups were mixed-sex rather than all-male

Question 16

When stores have only a few items out on display-as opposed to piles of items-the merchandise appears to be more valuable. This is probably due to the so-called ____ principle.

Accepted Answer

A)  reciprocity 
B)  consistency 
C)  commitment 
D)  scarcity

Question 17

The low-ball technique operates, at least partially, on the principle of ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  reciprocity 
B)  consistency 
C)  confusion 
D)  scarcity

Question 18

Given Asch's line-judging studies on conformity, it appears that people engage in normative conformity ____ when in the presence of larger groups (groups of 3-7 people) as opposed to smaller groups (groups of 2-3 people).

Accepted Answer

A)  more often 
B)  about as frequently 
C)  slightly less often 
D)  far less often

Question 19

The results of social psychological research on negative campaigning in politics have ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  indicated that negative campaigning is almost always more effective than positive campaigning 
B)  indicated that positive campaigning is almost always more effective than negative campaigning 
C)  indicated that negative campaigning can be an effective strategy for a candidate who is already in the lead, but not for a candidate who is behind 
D)  been mixed

Question 20

To avoid advertisement wear-out, one should use ____.

Accepted Answer

A)  credible sources 
B)  convert communicators 
C)  repetition-with-variation 
D)  the pique technique

Exam 8: Social Influence and Persuasion