Question 1

At a dinner party,Marcia spilled wine on her boss's Persian rug.If Marcia is like most social psychologists who study construals,what will she ask herself in predicting how her boss will respond?

Accepted Answer

A) How much does the rug cost? 
B) Did anyone witness the spill? 
C) Will my boss think I am drunk? 
D) Is my boss a gracious hostess?

Question 2

One application of Ross's idea of naïve realism is to assist the negotiations between long-time adversaries: Palestinians and Israelis.How would understanding naïve realism potentially help these parties negotiate more successfully?

Accepted Answer

A) They would understand their religious differences and be able to communicate effectively. 
B) Both sides would understand that their perceptions are biased,and try to be more objective. 
C) The Palestinians would come to understand the historical occupation of Israel,and leave the West Bank. 
D) Both sides would understand the role of culture in forming construals,and use conflict resolution skills appropriately.

Question 3

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

Accepted Answer

The answer of Define the term "fundamental attribution error," and...

Question 4

The word "construal" refers to

Accepted Answer

A) objective reality. 
B) information provided by other people. 
C) imagined events. 
D) personal interpretations.

Question 5

Which of the following psychologists is considered the founding "father" of modern experimental social psychology?

Accepted Answer

A) Gordon Allport 
B) Kurt Lewin 
C) B.F.Skinner 
D) Leon Festinger

Question 6

A social psychologist is perplexed.Is it true that birds of a feather flock together,or do opposites attract? Confronted with these two contradictory pieces of folk wisdom,what is this social psychologist most likely to do?

Accepted Answer

A) Administer a questionnaire to see if some types of people fit into one category,while other types fit into the other category. 
B) Choose a new topic for study. 
C) Choose the explanation that makes more sense. 
D) Investigate the different situations in which each bit of common sense holds true.

Question 7

Compare the importance that behaviorist and Gestalt approaches attach to such "mentalistic" concepts as thoughts and feelings.To which of these schools of thought is contemporary social psychology more closely related and why?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Compare the importance that behaviorist and Gestalt...

Question 8

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

Accepted Answer

A) Remember that sometimes people would rather feel good than be accurate. 
B) AIDS is more likely to be transmitted via intravenous drug use than via sex. 
C) Beware of the fundamental attribution error. 
D) Remember to provide complete information and get your facts right.

Question 9

You've heard that members of a certain fraternity or sorority are snobs.Whenever you see members of that fraternity or sorority,you look down and hurry past them.When they don't greet you,you say to yourself,"Just like I thought-they're all arrogant snobs." You have experienced a phenomenon known as

Accepted Answer

A) self-esteem enhancement. 
B) irrational disparagement. 
C) the self-fulfilling prophecy. 
D) the motivated attribution error.

Question 10

Which of the following questions is most likely to be asked by a social psychologist?

Accepted Answer

A) Are some kinds of people more susceptible to recruitment into cults? 
B) Do some types of people make better leaders than others? 
C) Are some characteristics genetically determined? 
D) What situations cause people to behave rudely?

Question 11

According to the authors of your text,why did behaviorists not incorporate cognition,thinking,and feeling into their theory?

Accepted Answer

A) There was no empirical support that these concepts mattered. 
B) They used strictly animal models for most of their theories. 
C) They consider the concepts too vague and difficult to observe. 
D) The theory could become too complex to study empirically.

Question 12

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

Accepted Answer

A) personality 
B) cognitive 
C) Gestalt 
D) behavioral

Question 13

When Mark goes to give Sven a congratulatory pat on the back after a job well done,he jumps and turns away.Mark has just read Chapter 1,and fancies himself something of a Gestalt psychologist.What is he likely to think about Sven's behavior?

Accepted Answer

A) "Sven must have been abused as a child." 
B) "What's his problem? A pat on the back is a reinforcer." 
C) "Sven must have interpreted my gesture differently than I intended." 
D) "Sven must have low self-esteem."

Question 14

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.

Accepted Answer

A) social cognitive 
B) self-esteem 
C) Gestalt 
D) behaviorist

Question 15

According to the authors of your text,one hazard of relying too heavily on folk wisdom is that

Accepted Answer

A) it is impossible to agree on what is "common sense." 
B) "common sense" is frequently wrong or oversimplified. 
C) "common sense" is useless to most social psychologists. 
D) journalists and other communicators of "common sense" information are hopelessly biased.

Question 16

Given that there are several driving motives for behavior,explain how biological drives affect behavior.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Given that there are several driving motives...

Question 17

Julie is eight months old,and her mother pretends her baby food is a train in order to convince her to eat it.Julie's mother is using a rather creative form of ____.

Accepted Answer

A) social influence 
B) explicit values 
C) social cognition 
D) implicit values

Question 18

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

Accepted Answer

A) Common sense approaches focus on the situation and not on personality. 
B) Nothing useful can be learned from journalists,philosophers,or social critics. 
C) Science has tested and debunked most folk wisdom. 
D) Folk wisdom and common sense are filled with contradictions.

Question 19

Which of the following is an example of social influence?

Accepted Answer

A) You feel guilty because you lied to your trusting professor about your assignment. 
B) When you get hungry,you have trouble concentrating. 
C) You didn't do well on the test because you stayed up all night cramming. 
D) You almost fall asleep at the wheel,so you pull off the road to take a short nap.

Question 20

Which of the following is an example of a direct persuasion attempt?

Accepted Answer

A) A bully threatens Billy and steals his lunch money. 
B) Ramona works hard in school to make her mother proud. 
C) Marianne thinks of her ex-boyfriend and becomes sad. 
D) Jason moves from New York to Atlanta and picks up a Southern accent.

Exam 1: Introducing Social Psychology