Study Guide

Chapter Key Terms

You should know the definitions of the following key terms from the chapter. They are listed in the order in which they appear in the chapter. For those you do not know, return to the relevant section of the chapter to learn them. When you think that you know all of the terms, complete the matching exercise based on these key terms.

social psychology

conformity

informational social influence

normative social influence

compliance

foot-in-the-door technique

door-in-the-face technique

low-ball technique

that's-not-all technique

obedience

social facilitation

social loafing

diffusion of responsibility

bystander effect

deindividuation

group polarization

groupthink

attribution

fundamental attribution error

just-world hypothesis

primacy effect

self-fulfilling prophecy

actor-observer bias

self-serving bias

false consensus effect

false uniqueness effect

attitudes

cognitive dissonance theory

self-perception theory

Key Terms Exercise

Identify the correct term for each of the following definitions.

Question 9.1

1. Compliance to a large request is gained by preceding it with a very small request.

__________________________________________________

foot-in-the-door technique

Question 9.2

2. Influence stemming from the need for information in situations in which the correct action or judgment is uncertain.

__________________________________________________

informational social influence

Question 9.3

3. The tendency to underestimate the commonality of one’s abilities and successful behaviors.

__________________________________________________

false uniqueness effect

Question 9.4

4. A mode of group thinking that impairs decision making because the desire for group harmony overrides a realistic appraisal of the possible decision alternatives.

__________________________________________________

groupthink

Question 9.5

5. The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in a group situation that fosters arousal and anonymity.

__________________________________________________

deindividuation

Question 9.6

6. The tendency to exert less effort when working in a group toward a goal than when individually working toward a goal.

__________________________________________________

social loafing

Question 9.7

7. Following the commands of a person in authority.

__________________________________________________

obedience

Question 9.8

8. The probability of a person helping in an emergency is greater when there are no other bystanders than when there are other bystanders.

__________________________________________________

bystander effect

Question 9.9

9. The tendency as an observer to overestimate internal dispositional influences and underestimate situational influences upon others’ behavior.

__________________________________________________

fundamental attribution error

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Question 9.10

10. A theory developed by Festinger that assumes people have a tendency to change their attitudes to reduce the cognitive discomfort created by inconsistencies between their attitudes and their behavior.

__________________________________________________

cognitive dissonance theory

Question 9.11

11. The assumption that the world is just and that people get what they deserve.

__________________________________________________

just-world hypothesis

Question 9.12

12. In impression formation, information gathered early is weighted more heavily than information gathered later in forming an impression of another person.

__________________________________________________

primacy effect

Question 9.13

13. Compliance to a costly request is gained by first getting compliance to an attractive, less costly request but then reneging on it.

__________________________________________________

low-ball technique

Question 9.14

14. The lessening of individual responsibility for a task when responsibility for the task is spread across the members of a group.

__________________________________________________

diffusion of responsibility

Question 9.15

15. A change in behavior, belief, or both to conform to a group norm as a result of real or imagined pressure.

__________________________________________________

conformity

Practice Test Questions

The following are practice multiple-choice test questions on some of the chapter content. If you guessed or incorrectly answered a question, restudy the relevant section of the chapter.

Question 9.16

1. The conformity demonstrated in Sherif’s study using the autokinetic effect stems from ______.
  1. actor-observer bias
  2. self-serving bias
  3. informational social influence
  4. normative social influence

c; informational social influence

Question 9.17

2. Which of the following factors increases conformity?
  1. group is not unanimous
  2. responding secretly
  3. correct action is not clear
  4. being of higher status than other group members

c; correct action is not clear

Question 9.18

3. Which of the following compliance techniques involves gaining compliance to a much larger request by preceding it with a much smaller request?
  1. that’s-not-all technique
  2. door-in-the-face technique
  3. low-ball technique
  4. foot-in-the-door technique

d; foot-in-the-door technique

Question 9.19

4. Which of the following situational factors in Milgram’s shock experiments led to the highest maximum obedience rate?
  1. experiment conducted in a rundown office building
  2. two co-teachers disobey experimenter
  3. experimenter not present
  4. teacher has to force learner’s hand onto shock plate

a; experiment conducted in a rundown office building

Question 9.20

5. ______ is the strengthening of a group’s prevailing opinion on a topic following group discussion of the topic.
  1. Deindividuation
  2. Group polarization
  3. Groupthink
  4. Social facilitation

b; Group polarization

Question 9.21

6. Facilitation of a dominant response on a task due to social arousal is called ______.
  1. deindividuation
  2. social facilitation
  3. social loafing
  4. the bystander effect

b; social facilitation

Question 9.22

7. When committing the fundamental attribution error, we tend to ______ the influence of dispositional factors and ______ the influence of situational factors.
  1. overestimate; overestimate
  2. overestimate; underestimate
  3. underestimate; overestimate
  4. underestimate; underestimate

b; overestimate; underestimate

Question 9.23

8. With the self-serving bias, we tend to make ______ attributions for our failures and ______ attributions for our successes.
  1. dispositional; dispositional
  2. dispositional; situational
  3. situational; dispositional
  4. situational; situational

c; situational; dispositional

Question 9.24

9. Bill likes country music; therefore, he thinks that most people like country music. Bill’s behavior is an example of the ______.
  1. fundamental attribution error
  2. actor-observer bias
  3. false consensus effect
  4. false uniqueness effect

c; false consensus effect

Question 9.25

10. Two groups of children are told to not play with a very attractive toy in a play-room. One group is threatened very severely, while the other group is only threatened mildly. Neither group played with the toy. According to cognitive dissonance theory, which group(s) should later still rate the toy as very attractive?
  1. severe threat group
  2. mild threat group
  3. neither group
  4. both groups

a; severe threat group

Question 9.26

11. Which two compliance techniques involve the rule of reciprocity?
  1. foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face
  2. low-ball and that’s-not-all
  3. foot-in-the-door and low-ball
  4. door-in-the-face and that’s-not-all

d; door-in-the-face and that’s-not-all

Question 9.27

12. Conformity is higher for a person when the group ______ the person’s responses and when the person is of ______ status than the other group members.
  1. hears; lesser
  2. does not hear; lesser
  3. hears; higher
  4. does not hear; higher

a; hears; lesser

Question 9.28

13. The bystander effect refers to the finding that an observer of an emergency is less likely to help if the ______.
  1. emergency takes place in a big city
  2. emergency is being observed by other people
  3. observer has just endured a frustrating experience
  4. observer has been exposed to many similar emergencies in the past

b; emergency is being observed by other people

Question 9.29

14. Which of the following comments is most likely to be made by the leader of a group characterized by groupthink?
  1. “We have been united on matters in the past, and I hope that will continue.”
  2. “We will need some outside experts to critique our decisions.”
  3. “It’s important for each of us individually to think critically about this issue.”
  4. “We should probably divide into subgroups and arrive at independent decisions.”

a; “We have been united on matters in the past, and I hope that will continue.”

Question 9.30

15. When our expectations of a person elicit behavior from that person that confirms our expectations, this is a case of ______.
  1. self-serving bias
  2. actor-observer bias
  3. deindividuation
  4. self-fulfilling prophecy

d; self-fulfilling prophecy