Chapter 11 Test

Test yourself repeatedly throughout your studies. This will not only help you figure out what you know and don’t know; the testing itself will help you learn and remember the information more effectively thanks to the testing effect.

Question 11.40

1. If we encounter a person who appears to be high on drugs, and we make the fundamental attribution error, we will probably attribute the person’s behavior to

  1. moral weakness or an addictive personality.

  2. peer pressure.

  3. the easy availability of drugs on city streets.

  4. society’s acceptance of drug use.

a

Question 11.41

2. We tend to agree to a larger request more readily if we have already agreed to a small request. This tendency is called the _____ - ___ - ____ - _____ phenomenon.

foot-in-the-door

Question 11.42

3. Jamal’s therapist has suggested that Jamal should “act as if” he is confident, even though he feels insecure and shy. Which social psychological theory would best support this suggestion, and what might the therapist be hoping to achieve?

Cognitive dissonance theory best supports this suggestion. If Jamal acts confident, his behavior will contradict his negative self-thoughts, creating cognitive dissonance. To relieve the tension, Jamal may realign his attitudes with his actions by viewing himself as more outgoing and confident.

Question 11.43

4. Researchers have found that a person is most likely to conform to a group if

  1. the group members have diverse opinions.

  2. the person feels competent and secure.

  3. the person admires the group’s status.

  4. no one else will observe the person’s behavior.

c

Question 11.44

5. In Milgram’s experiments, the rate of obedience was highest when

  1. the “learner” was at a distance from the “teacher.”

  2. the “learner” was near the “teacher.”

  3. other “teachers” refused to go along with the experimenter.

  4. the “teacher” disliked the “learner.”

a

Question 11.45

6. Dr. Huang, a popular music professor, delivers fascinating lectures on music history but gets nervous and makes mistakes when describing exam statistics in front of the class. Why does his performance vary by task?

The presence of a large audience generates arousal and strengthens Dr. Huang’s most likely response: enhanced performance on a task he has mastered (teaching music history) and impaired performance on a task he finds difficult (statistics).

346

Question 11.46

7. In a group situation that fosters arousal and anonymity, a person sometimes loses self-consciousness and self-control. This phenomenon is called ____.

deindividuation

Question 11.47

8. Sharing our opinions with like-minded others tends to strengthen our views, a phenomenon referred to as _____ _____.

group polarization

Question 11.48

9. Prejudice toward a group involves negative feelings, a tendency to discriminate, and overly generalized beliefs referred to as ____.

stereotypes

Question 11.49

10. If several well-publicized murders are committed by members of a particular group, we may tend to react with fear and suspicion toward all members of that group. In other words, we

  1. blame the victim.

  2. overgeneralize from vivid, memorable cases.

  3. view the world as just.

  4. rationalize inequality.

b

Question 11.50

11. The other-race effect occurs when we assume that other groups are ______ (more/less) homogeneous than our own group.

more

Question 11.51

12. Evidence of a biochemical influence on aggression is the finding that

  1. aggressive behavior varies widely from culture to culture.

  2. animals can be bred for aggressiveness.

  3. stimulation of an area of the brain’s limbic system produces aggressive behavior.

  4. a higher-than-average level of the hormone testosterone is associated with violent behavior in males.

d

Question 11.52

13. When those who feel frustrated become angry and aggressive, this is referred to as the ____- ____ ____.

frustration-aggression principle

Question 11.53

14. Studies show that parents of delinquent young people tend to use beatings to enforce discipline. This suggests that aggression can be

  1. learned through direct rewards.

  2. triggered by exposure to violent media.

  3. learned through observation of aggressive models.

  4. caused by hormone changes at puberty.

c

Question 11.54

15. Social scientists studying the effects of pornography have mostly agreed that violent pornography

  1. has little effect on most viewers.

  2. is the primary cause of reported and unreported rapes.

  3. leads viewers to be more accepting of coercion in sexual relations.

  4. has no effect, other than short-term arousal and entertainment.

c

Question 11.55

16. The more familiar a stimulus becomes, the more we tend to like it. This exemplifies the _____ _____ effect.

mere exposure

Question 11.56

17. A happy couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary is likely to experience deep _____ love, even though their _____ love has probably decreased over the years.

companionate; passionate

Question 11.57

18. After vigorous exercise, you meet an attractive person, and you are suddenly seized by romantic feelings for that person. This response supports the two-factor theory of emotion, which assumes that emotions, such as passionate love, consist of physical arousal plus

  1. a reward.

  2. proximity.

  3. companionate love.

  4. our interpretation of that arousal.

d

Question 11.58

19. Due to the bystander effect, a particular bystander is less likely to give aid if

  1. the victim is similar to the bystander in appearance.

  2. no one else is present.

  3. other people are present.

  4. the incident occurs in a deserted or rural area.

c

Question 11.59

20. Our enemies often have many of the same negative impressions of us as we have of them. This exemplifies the concept of _____ - _____ perceptions.

mirror-image

Question 11.60

21. One way of resolving conflicts and fostering cooperation is by giving rival groups shared goals that help them override their differences. These are called _____ goals.

superordinate

Find answers to these questions in Appendix E, in the back of the book.