Social Psychology - Practice 170 Questions

chapter 7 Answer Key 1. c 2. c 3. c 4. c 5. c 6. d 7. b 8. a 9. c 10. b 11. d 12. b 13. b 14. a 15. d 16. b 17. b 18. d 19. a 20. a 21. b 22. d 23. c chapter 7 24. b 25. d 26. a 27. d 28. c 29. a 30. b 31. a 32. b 33. d 34. a 35. b 36. a 37. a 38. d 39. a 40. d 41. a 42. c 43. d 44. d 45. d 46. b 47. b chapter 7 48. d 49. a 50. b 51. a 52. a 53. d 54. b 55. c 56. d 57. b 58. b 59. c 60. b 61. c 62. d 63. c 64. c 65. d 66. b 67. b 68. c 69. b 70. c 71. b chapter 7 72. c 73. a 74. d 75. c 76. d 77. d 78. b 79. a 80. c 81. c 82. d 83. c 84. c 85. b 86. a 87. b 88. a 89. a 90. d 91. a 92. a 93. d 94. b 95. a chapter 7 96. b 97. d 98. b 99. c 100. d 101. b 102. b 103. a 104. c 105. d 106. b 107. c 108. b 109. c 110. a 111. d 112. c 113. c 114. a 115. a 116. c 117. d 118. c 119. a chapter 7 120. d 121. a 122. d 123. b 124. d 125. b 126. d 127. a 128. d 129. d 130. d 131. b 132. a 133. c 134. The "social construction of reality" refers to the profound influence of society/culture on individuals' perceptions and behavior. From birth, each individual is socialized into a particular set of cultural norms, beliefs, values, and institutions, and this process of socialization never stops. As a result, the way individuals perceive and think about the world, and the way they live their lives, are shaped in very fundamental ways by this cultural "training." At just about every moment of every day, we are acting within culturally defined situations and carrying out the responsibilities associated with culturally defined social roles and relying on culturally transmitted belief systems to make sense of our experiences. Within culturally defined situations, there are recognized scripts for how to behave that people have been socialized to follow. Even when in private or when we feel like we're not in "civilization," we may still be operating in a culturally defined situation. For example, if I am hiking a trail up a mountain in a remote wilderness area, this is still a culturally defined situation—hiking is a culturally recognized activity that has certain norms and scripts which participants follow (e.g., one generally hikes up the mountain, spends some time at the peak, then descends). Cultures also recognize certain social roles that people can occupy, including relational roles (e.g., daughter, father) and occupational roles (e.g., dentist, museum curator). Within the culture, there are shared beliefs or stereotypes about people occupying each recognized role, as well as norms and scripts governing the behavior of people occupying each role. For example, "teacher" and "student" are culturally defined social roles with quite clearly defined scripts. Teachers are recognized as having authority in the classroom and can speak at will, whereas students are expected to be respectful and attentive and generally need recognition or permission from the teacher to speak up. chapter 7 135. Conformity occurs when an individual alters his or her beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors to bring them in line with those of a majority. There are many factors that affect conformity. First, conformity can be based on informational influence or normative influence. Informational influence occurs when people look to others to provide them with information about an ambiguous situation. Private acceptance (sincere change in belief) is more likely to occur because people are unsure of themselves or what to do. Normative social influence is based on wanting to be accepted into a group. This type of influence typically leads to public compliance—that is, to doing things to fit in and be accepted, but not necessarily to changes in internal attitudes or beliefs. Normative social influence is often driven by the fear of being rejected, isolated, or ostracized. A number of variables can increase or decrease people's tendency to conform. Individuals from collectivistic cultures, which value group cohesiveness, are more likely to conform than individuals from individualistic cultures. When it comes to differences in individual temperament, a high need for achievement, leadership qualities, confidence in one's own judgments, and high self-esteem are all associated with a lesser tendency to conform than the opposite traits are. Gender may play a role, but only in certain tasks: women are more likely to conform on stereotypically masculine topics, while men are more likely to conform on stereotypically feminine topics. A group's size, and the degree of unanimity, also matter; a person is much more likely to conform in a large group where everyone else appears unanimous than in a small group where at least one person joins in dissent. Finally, people are more likely to conform if they psychologically identify with the group than if they do not. 136. A reference group is a larger group that an individual belongs to, to which the individual feels a strong connection or sense of identification. Reference groups affect both informational and normative processes of social influence. With respect to informational influence, people are more likely to view members of their reference groups as reliable, trustworthy sources of information—and hence more likely to accept informational influence from reference-group members than from nonmembers. For example, if Xian has recently immigrated to the United States from China and finds himself in an unfamiliar situation, he will be more likely to look to the behavior of other Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans (members of his reference group) as a guide for his own behavior, as opposed to the behavior of members of other groups. With respect to normative influence, people are more strongly motivated to maintain inclusion and social harmony with members of their reference groups than with nonmembers. As such, they are also more susceptible to normative influence from reference group members than from nonmembers. For example, if Rita strongly identifies as a Democrat, she will be more likely to adopt the opinions, fashions, and behaviors that are popular among the Democrats she knows (members of her reference group) as opposed to those popular among the Republicans she knows. 137. Milgram varied several aspects of the procedure. The perceived legitimacy of the experimenter's authority was varied by conducting the study either at a university (Yale) or in an unimpressive office building. The physical distance between teacher and learner was varied by placing them either in different rooms or in the same room. (In some of the latter cases, the teacher had to make physical contact with the learner.) The proximity of the experimenter was varied by having the experimenter give instructions either in person or by phone. Finally, the social environment was varied by, in some cases, introducing other confederates who raised objections in the presence of the participant. 138. Sherif investigated whether people would influence each other's perceptions of how much a point of light moved in an otherwise dark room. He put two or three people together and had them publicly call out estimates of how much the light moved. He found that people began with varying estimates but quickly shifted their answers and came to agree with others, coming up with a common norm. (In fact the point did not move at all.) The introduction of a confederate could even be used to manipulate the consensus. Participants in Sherif's study chapter 7 tended to change their opinions on the basis of informational influence, the process of using others as a source of information about the world. Asch investigated whether others' influence could affect a person's judgment of the relative lengths of three parallel lines. In his experiment, confederates were instructed to give the wrong answer, aloud, to an easy question about which of three lines matched a fourth line in length. The participant was then asked to state his answer. Many participants went along with the confederates' answers even when they didn't believe they were correct. Both of these studies demonstrated that people will go along with the group or conform. However, Sherif's study documented a change in private belief as well as public behavior, a behavior called private acceptance. Sherif's subjects exhibited inward as well as outward conformity. By contrast, Asch's study demonstrated that people will sometimes conform to a group outwardly, in order to fit in, without changing their private beliefs. This kind of behavior is called public compliance. 139. Descriptive norms refer to the behaviors that are common or typical in a given social context. Examples will vary by student, but it should be clear in the example that the norm is a behavior that is common or typical (e.g., "Everyone takes this shortcut up the hill instead of following the sidewalk."). Injunctive norms refer to the behaviors that are seen as right, proper, or appropriate in a given culture or social context. Examples will vary by student, but it should be clear in the example that the norm involves this kind of value judgment (e.g., "Students are expected to address their professors as 'Doctor So-and-so'"). 140. The door-in-the-face effect is the increase in people's readiness to comply with a moderate request after they have first been presented with, and refused, a bigger request. Underlying the effect is the principle of reciprocity: the reduction from the bigger request to the smaller one is perceived as a favor that calls for a favor in return. Students may provide a variety of examples. One example could be "Mom, can I go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans with my boyfriend?" After Mom says no, the request becomes, "Can I go to the local Mardi Gras parade with my boyfriend?" 141. Informational and normative influence are both types of social influence. Informational influence occurs when people who find themselves in an ambiguous situation look to others for information. Private acceptance is more likely to occur when people are unsure of themselves or unsure what to do. Examples might include taking one's cues from other people in an unfamiliar social situation or signing up for a particular class because everyone else does so. Normative social influence occurs when people want to be accepted into a group. This type of influence typically leads to public compliance—i.e., outwardly doing whatever is required to fit in and be accepted—but not necessarily to changes in internal attitudes or beliefs. Normative social influence is often driven by the fear of being rejected, isolated, or ostracized. For example, in a discussion of the death penalty, an individual may publicly go along with the group but privately not believe what the rest of the group does. Student answers may vary on the examples. 142. Informational influence is the process of using others as a source of information about the world. Informational influence tends to lead to private acceptance, i.e., sincere adoption of new beliefs and attitudes. People typically use informational influence in ambiguous situations. Normative influence is the process of using others to determine how to fit in. People typically use normative influence when they want to be liked or accepted by that group or fear rejection. Normative influence leads to public compliance, i.e., outward behavioral conformity, but not necessarily to private acceptance. 143. The norm for social commitment is a tendency for people to be true to their word and honor the social chapter 7 agreements they have made, even if the circumstances surrounding the agreement have changed. For example, if I had agreed to give a talk at a conference in April 2020, I might have felt compelled to follow through on that commitment and give the talk even though the COVID-19 pandemic had begun spreading rapidly in the U.S. by that time. 144. Social neuroscience uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the brain to examine the neural processes of conformity. Bern and colleagues had participants make judgments about the spatial orientation of 3-D geometric figures. Participants were given feedback about how other people who were supposedly also in on the session thought the figures were oriented. In a second condition participants were given feedback that was supposedly from a computer. When participants conformed to the opinions of other purported participants, the occipital-parietal areas of the brain, where tasks like spatial perception and mental rotation are handled, were more active. By contrast, no such increase in activity was observed in the computer condition. The difference suggests that informational influence from others has a distinctively potent effect on how we perceive objects in the world. Neuroscience has also shown that when it comes to brain activity, failing to conform is like realizing one has made a mistake. Klucharev and colleagues had participants make judgments about how attractive they found people's faces. While the subjects made their judgments, their brains were scanned. The participants were then informed of the average rating of each face. Thirty minutes later participants were asked to re-rate the attractiveness of the faces. Participants who learned that their ratings were different from the groups had activation in the rostral cingulate cortex and the nucleus accumbens, where learning tasks are handled. Moreover, the stronger the activation, the greater the tendency for people to adjust their ratings on the second go-around to make them more like the supposed average ratings. Klucharev's interpretation was people experience disagreeing with the group as a mistake and try to learn the "correct" response. 145. In Zimbardo's original publications about the experiment, he explicitly claimed that the guards had not been directly ordered to mistreat the prisoners. Rather, he claimed that the guards had spontaneously begun the mistreatment simply because they were influenced by the social role of "guard" that they now occupied. The fact that he gave them explicit orders makes the study seem like more of a case of obedience to authority than of social-role influence. 146. Social learning theory describes our capacity to learn from observing others, typically by imitating their behavior. Research inspired by social learning theory includes the Bobo doll studies, in which children imitated an adult who behaved aggressively toward a doll, particularly if the adult was rewarded for the behavior. Other studies demonstrate the chameleon effect, people's tendency to unconsciously mimic others' bodily gestures and postures. Not all social learning is beneficial: sociological research suggests that media coverage of suicides is associated with an increase in suicide rates. 147. I have many tactics to choose from. I could try to use the foot-in-the-door effect by starting small with people and then asking them to increase their commitment. So I might ask them to volunteer for one hour per week. Once they had done that for a couple of weeks, I would request maybe two hours or one hour twice a week. The idea behind this tactic would be that once they have begun to volunteer, self-perception theory says they will see themselves as the sort of person who does volunteer work. One thing that is important to note, however, is that the person who volunteers needs to freely choose to do that activity. If they are required to put in an hour per week, then increasing their workload may not work. I could also make use of the norm for social commitment by getting people to make a public pledge to get involved. They are more likely to stick with their commitment if they have made it in front of other people. A third possible tactic would be to use the norm of reciprocity. If I can do something for the other person prior to chapter 7 asking for a commitment from them, they may be more willing to respond favorably. A fourth option would be to use social proof by presenting a list of prominent others who have volunteered for my organization. Fifth, using scarcity may work if I can make the person believe that volunteer opportunities are few and far between. A last thing that I might do is ask people to volunteer for one and a half hours per week, the idea being that a specific and slightly unusual amount of time would jolt them out of mindless refusal and make them think more seriously about my request. 148. Mindlessness is akin to automatic processing or to being on autopilot. A person acting mindlessly gives only superficial thought to what they are doing, relying mostly on habit and other mental reflexes. In one study, people were more likely to comply with a person's request to cut in line to use a copier if that request was accompanied by a because statement, even if the rest of the statement simply repeated the request ("because I need to make some copies"). The simple use of because triggered mindless compliance. In another study, individuals were more likely to give someone some change if the person asked for an unusual amount. Where a request for a quarter would be met with mindless refusal, a request for 37 cents would trigger a more attentive response. 149. In Milgram's study, participants believed they had been randomly assigned to be the teacher in a study on learning. The learner was a confederate in another room who was ostensibly receiving electric shocks for giving wrong answers to the questions asked by the participant. The experimenter repeatedly insisted that the teacher needed to give electric shocks of increasingly high voltage to the learner, and the participant's willingness to do so was the measure of obedience in the study. The purpose of the study was to determine how obedient average people would be to an authority figure's instructions to engage in harmful actions. 150. It has been suggested that scarcity leads to increased sales because we have an innate mental heuristic that tells us that if a good is scarce, we need to make sure we have enough before the supply completely runs out. This leads us to scrutinize scarce goods closely and, if in doubt, to err on the side of securing them. It has also been suggested that we perceive scarcity as an insult to our view of ourselves as free, choosing agents, and we respond by insisting on our freedom to have scarce things. 151. The foot-in-the-door effect is people's tendency to comply with a moderately burdensome request after they have already said yes to a smaller request. The lowballing effect is people's tendency to keep a commitment even if they later learn of extra costs. In both cases, one person persuades another person to agree to a small request in order to increase the likelihood that they will subsequently agree to the larger one. However, the foot-in-the-door effect works by changing the complying person's self-perception into that of someone who is in favor of whatever cause or project is being supported. The lowballing effect, by contrast, works by activating the norm for social commitment: people tend to feel that they should follow through on their pledges, even when circumstances change. 152. Minority influence is the process where dissenters (or numerical minorities) produce attitude change within a group. Minority opinions are characteristically expressed more slowly compared with majority opinions. This is known as the minority slowness effect. But according to conversion theory, when minority opinions are finally expressed, their unusualness and distinctiveness attracts attention, which gains them influence. Minority influence generally involves a more controlled, thoughtful process on the part of listeners, whereas majority influence happens through an automatic, heuristic process. This means that a person who has been converted to a minority opinion is more likely to hold that opinion strongly and for a long time than one who has gone along with the majority. chapter 7 153. People representing a minority opinion can use a number of techniques to increase their influence: (1) project self-confidence and maintain a consistent, unwavering position; (2) display, at the same time, a willingness to listen with an open mind and to compromise where appropriate; (3) concentrate on getting at least one majority member to change his or her mind, thereby encouraging others to follow suit; and (4) encourage the majority to see the minority as part of the majority's ingroup. 154. In the Stanford Prison Experiment, participants were randomly assigned to play prison guards or prisoners for a short period of time. The "guards" quickly became immersed in their roles, to the extent that they began to commit abuses against the prisoners. The "prisoners" also embraced their roles and began to rebel or to exhibit signs of depression. The experiment illuminated the power of culturally constructed social roles to influence behavior. 155. A charismatic leader is a leader who exhibits boldness and self-confidence and emphasizes the greatness of the ingroup. According to terror management theory, if a culture no longer provides its members with a basis of meaning and self-worth, then people look for a more secure belief system providing them with enduring significance. A person who has a vision of the ingroup as representing the greater good may rise to power. In short, reminders of mortality can increase the appeal of charismatic leaders. This is especially true when cultural threats to people's sense that life is meaningful are accompanied by economic or political threats to their security. Something like an economic downturn may provide an opportunity for charismatic leaders to rise to power. Social identity theory research has shown that people are more willing to support leaders who affirm the value of the group's shared social identity. And leaders who have a vision for how the group can achieve great things can often inspire followers, especially in times of crisis. Student examples of a charismatic leader will vary. 156. When an individual is affected by informational influence it is because they genuinely aren't sure what is true, or what the correct way to behave is in a given situation. Thus, if others seem to know what they're doing, the individual is inclined to accept that as correct (i.e., private acceptance). In contrast, when individuals are affected by normative influence they don't necessarily lack knowledge of what is correct—they are just trying to fit in and be accepted, so public compliance in the absence of private acceptance is more common than with informational influence. 157. Participants judged which of three comparison lines was most similar in length to a target line. Some participants were exposed to conformity pressure, in the form of a group of confederates who all gave the same wrong response in the line-judging task. Most participants (~75%) conformed to the confederates' choice at least once during the study. Participants not exposed to conformity pressure made errors on fewer than 1% of trials, while those exposed to conformity pressure made substantially more errors, agreeing with confederates' wrong answer in 37% of trials on average. 158. The focus theory of normative conduct distinguishes between injunctive norms and descriptive norms. Injunctive norms are beliefs about what behaviors are generally approved of or disapproved of in a culture. Descriptive norms are beliefs about what most people typically do. Both forms of normative influence can be used to change behavior. However, it is important not to make conflicting norms salient: communicating that a certain injunctive rule is frequently broken will undermine the effort to get people to obey the rule. 159. The chameleon effect is the tendency that people have to unconsciously mimic the nonverbal mannerisms of their interaction partner. Research by Chartrand and Bargh paired participants with a confederate to take turns chapter 7 telling a story about a photograph. The confederates had been trained to either rub their faces or tap one of their feet during the videotaped interactions. Participants tended to exhibit the same behavior, either face-rubbing or foot-tapping, as the confederates they were paired with. The participants reported that they had no conscious awareness of mimicking their partners. 160. Obedience is an action engaged in to fulfill a direct order or command of another person. Conformity, by contrast, is altering one's beliefs, attitudes, or behavior to match those of a majority. Here the pressure to respond a certain way takes various forms that are normally more subtle than a direct order. Obedience will be common in any culture that, like the United States, has hierarchical power structures that give parents authority over children, teachers authority over students, and so on. Milgram's famous experiments led him to identify a number of factors that determine the likelihood and extent of people's obedience to authority figures. The most important variable involved is the authority's perceived legitimacy. Physical closeness of the authority figure is another factor that contributes to obedience: the closer the physical distance, the more obedience. Another factor is psychological closeness or remoteness to persons who might be affected by one's obedience. The more psychologically remote those persons, the more willing a person will be to obey in a way that causes them harm. Finally, people are more likely to obey if they see everyone else obeying. This probably traces back to the same cause as the tendency to obey in the first place: historically, people have generally benefited from belonging to stable social groups that acted in well-coordinated fashion to do things like hunt and gather food. So then there may be an evolutionary basis for individuals' wanting to get along with others and not challenge authority figures. (This is also why compliance-inducing techniques such as the foot-in-the door tactic work on us.) And of course socialization reinforces the habit of obeying authority figures. 161. The autokinetic effect is a perceptual phenomenon where individuals in a dark room perceive a stationary spot of light to move. Individuals in these studies would make verbal judgments in groups about the distance the light moved. Within a group, participants would eventually converge to a common norm. In some variations, participants were brought back up to a year later, and their private judgments still conformed to the original group norm, suggesting that conformity processes can influence even basic perceptions. 162. The personality variables that influence the likelihood of conformity include need for achievement, leadership qualities, and self-image. Individuals who have a high need to achieve; strong leadership traits; and high self-esteem, high self-awareness, and confidence in their own judgment are less likely to conform. Situational variables that influence conformity include group size, degree of unanimity, and relation to the group. An individual will be most likely to conform in a large group where everyone else is unanimous. In a smaller group (fewer than four) or in a group where at least one other person is dissenting, conformity is significantly less assured. The extent to which the individual identifies with the majority also influences the degree of conformity. Strong identification with the reference group increases conformity. 163. Social learning is the capacity to learn from others. People are more likely to imitate another person, the model, if (1) the model is seen to be rewarded for the behavior, (2) the observer finds the model likable, and (3) the behavior observed is consistent with the motivational state of the observer (e.g., aggressive behavior will be more readily imitated if the observer is in an angry mood). 164. Social proof is our tendency to engage in behavior because a trusted or admired other seems to support that behavior. Student examples will vary. For example, advertisements routinely use celebrity endorsements to convince us to buy or use products. The advertisements assume that we look up to these celebrities and that therefore social proof will operate to convince us of the products' value. We can also be influenced by the chapter 7 example and advice of respected friends and colleagues, especially ones we perceive as being similar to us, so that their preferences are good predictors of ours. Thus, we are likely to check out a TV show recommended by a friend who is similar to us in age and known to have similar tastes in entertainment. 165. Milgram believed that people are willing to commit harmful acts when they are ordered to do so by authorities because human beings evolved, as members of hunting and food-gathering groups, to obey the commands of figures acting as group leaders. Another factor is the process of socialization, which involves coming to respect authority figures and see their opinions as correct and informed. Finally, as Milgram observed, people are more willing to inflict harm if the harm is initially mild and then gradually increases in severity. This may be seen as a variation of the foot-in-the-door effect. 166. Cialdini's focus theory of normative conduct distinguishes between two types of norms that exert influence on behavior. A descriptive norm is a belief about what most people typically do. An injunctive norm is a belief about what behaviors are generally approved of or disapproved of in a culture. Adherence to a norm tends to increase when the norm becomes salient. Cialdini and colleagues demonstrated this by creating and posting signs at two different spots in the Petrified Forest National Park, to try and get individuals to not take a souvenir piece of wood home from the park. One sign was based on an injunctive norm and stated, "Please don't remove the petrified wood from the park." The other sign was based on a descriptive norm and stated, "Many past visitors have removed the petrified wood from the park, changing the state of the Petrified Forest." When examining areas of the park where specially marked wood was distributed, it was found that more people removed the wood in the descriptive norm condition. Apparently the descriptive norm made the fact that some people do take the wood salient. Student examples may vary. One example may be conserving water usage. Hotels may have a sign hanging up stating "80% of people who reserve this room choose to reuse their towels" (a descriptive norm) in order to increase water conservation. 167. Reciprocity is when people essentially return the favor or do something for someone because that person did something for them in the past. In an experiment by Regan, participants worked on a task with a confederate who was either friendly and likable or else quite rude, and who either did or did not perform an unsolicited favor for the participant by bringing them a can of Coke to drink. At the end of the session the confederate asked if the participant would like to purchase a fund-raising lottery ticket. Participants to whom the confederate had brought a Coke purchased more tickets. It did not matter whether the confederate was likable or rude. This demonstrated that buying the lottery ticket was based on the norm of reciprocity rather than on the participants' general mood or their feelings toward the confederate. 168. Minority influence is the process by which dissenters (people numerically in the minority) can produce attitude change within a group. Although people in the minority often face social rejection and therefore tend to be slower to express their opinions than people in the majority (this is called the minority slowness effect), according to Moscovici's conversion theory the very unusualness of the minority opinion can cause listeners to pay more attention. As a result, the listeners, trying to understand the novel position, engage in more controlled processing, which is more deliberate and tends to produce stronger, more lasting changes in belief than the quick, automatic processing with which people often react to majority opinions. A number of factors increase the influence of minorities. They have more influence in matters of opinion (should questions) than in matters of fact (what is questions), and they are more likely to persuade others if they have a consistent message and project self-confidence, while also displaying flexibility and open-mindedness, thereby signaling a willingness to compromise. If the minority can win one person from the majority to their side, that may result in others following. People in the majority are also more likely to be influenced if the chapter 7 person in the minority is seen as a member of the majority's ingroup. Student answers will vary but should include the elements of how minorities exert influence. 169. Social learning theory, developed by Bandura, captures the theme "monkey see, monkey do." Social learning theory describes people's capacity to learn from observing a model. The model may be a real person or it may be symbolic (e.g., television character). Bandura's classic 1960s studies had children between the ages of 3 to 6 watch a film of an adult model punch and kick a large, inflatable doll called a Bobo doll. When children were placed in a play room with a Bobo doll, they tended to imitate the adult model. Bandura found that the children's behavior matched the predictions of social learning theory, according to which people are more likely to imitate a model who has been reinforced for an action (given soda and candy, in the case of the Bandura study) and less likely to imitate a model that has been punished. (Sometimes Bandura's model was shown being spanked.) A model's likeability also matters: more likeable models are more consistently imitated. Finally, social learning is more likely to occur when the behavior that is observed is consistent with the observer's motivational state. So, for instance, aggressive behavior is more readily imitated by research subjects who are irritated or frustrated. Mimicry, the imitating of another person's behavior, may be completely unconscious, the result of mirror neurons in the brain running an internal simulation of the other's actions. When unconscious mimicry duplicates nonverbal behaviors, this is called the chameleon effect. Chartrand and Bargh paired a participant with a confederate and made-up stories about a photograph. The confederates had been trained prior to the experiment to rub their faces or to shake their foot. The participants were more likely to rub their own faces when they were paired with a face-rubbing confederate and more likely to shake their feet when they were paired with a footshaking confederate. Mimicry can also extend beyond bodily behavior to things like beliefs and attitudes. But research suggests that we engage in such mimicry mainly when observing people we like, not ones we dislike. Sinclair and colleagues had White participants complete the IAT to measure their unconscious attitudes toward Blacks in the presence of an experimenter who wore a T-shirt that was either blank or said "Eracism." The experimenter was deliberately rude in one experimental condition and friendly in the other. When the experimenter was friendly and wore the "Eracism" T-shirt, participants exhibited more positive attitudes toward Blacks in their IAT responses. The likely explanation for this phenomenon is that mimicry is an expression of our desire to get along with people we feel positively toward. 170. Charismatic leaders are typically bold and self-confident. They also present a heroic vision of the ingroup as culturally superior. According to terror management theory, people are more likely to be swayed by a charismatic leader during times when their culture is not giving them a basis for seeing their lives as meaningful. A political or economic crisis occurring at the same time can further heighten the appeal of a charismatic leader. chapter 7 Indicate the answer choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. 1. Conversion theory suggests that _____ are sometimes influential because they are _____. a. authority commands; presented slowly b. authority commands; informational c. minority opinions; distinctive d. minority opinions; presented quickly 2. Social influence is defined as the: a. influence of the individual on society. b. effects of other people on an individual's level of extraversion. c. effects of other people on an individual's beliefs or behaviors. d. influence of public settings on an individual's perception. 3. All of the following have been found to help explain the rise of charismatic leaders EXCEPT: a. the economic situation. b. terror management theory. c. effort justification. d. social identity theory. 4. Recent revelations about the Stanford Prison Experiment show that Zimbardo directly instructed the guards to mistreat the prisoners. This was not reported in the original publications about the study. How have these revelations changed the interpretations of the experiment? a. They have further reinforced Zimbardo's original conclusions, that the experiment primarily reveals the influence of social roles on behavior. b.They suggest that Zimbardo's original reports were not totally honest, but have not resulted in any substantial changes to the interpretation of the experiment. c. They suggest that the results of the experiment are more of a demonstration of obedience to authority, and less reflective of the influence of social roles. d.They suggest that the results of the experiment reflect the influence of a salient descriptive norm, more so than the influence of social roles. 5. When an individual alters his or her beliefs, attitudes, or behavior to bring him or her in line with others, this is called: a. conversion. b. reciprocity. c. conformity. d. obedience. 6. Which of the following statements about gender and conformity is correct? a. On average, women tend to display conformity more frequently and across more distinct social situations than men do. chapter 7 b.People show greater conformity to others of their own gender; men conform more to other men's behavior, and women conform more to other women's behavior. c. There is no meaningful relationship between gender and conformity; gender is simply not a relevant factor to consider in predicting and explaining conformity. d.People conform more in areas they know less about, so men conform more in stereotypically feminine domains, and women conform more in stereotypically masculine domains. 7. In a field experiment, the request for change that was most likely to elicit compliance was: a. "Can you spare any change?" b. "Can you spare 37 cents?" c. "Can you spare a quarter?" d. "Can you spare some money?" 8. Shi is enjoying talking with Will and wants to get to know him better. Will is wearing a Star Wars shirt. Research suggests that after they finish their conversation, if Shi turns on the TV and starts flipping through the channels, what will she likely do? a. be more likely to watch Star Wars if it's on b. not be any more likely to watch Star Wars if it's on c. be especially aggressive if Star Wars is on d. take a long time to decide what to watch 9. Cohen et al. (2017) examined how mortality salience affected attitudes toward the 2016 U.S. presidential candidates. What did they find? a. Mortality salience increased support for Donald Trump and decreased support for Hillary Clinton. b.Mortality salience decreased support for Donald Trump and increased support for Hillary Clinton. c. Mortality salience increased support for Donald Trump and had no effect on support for Hillary Clinton. d.Mortality salience had no effect on support for Donald Trump and decreased support for Hillary Clinton. 10. One reason that obedience to authority is common in the United States is because: a. individualist cultures like the U.S. emphasize conformity and social harmony. b. power in the United States is hierarchically structured by social roles. c. authoritarian parenting is the most common style of parenting in the United States. d. institutions in the United States do not sufficiently protect individual freedoms. chapter 7 11. The norm of reciprocity refers to the belief that: a. the opinion of someone you respect must be correct. b. people should honor agreements once they have been publicly made. c. society changes by minorities and majorities working together. d. one should return a favor to someone who has done a favor for them. 12. On his first day at a new job, Markus learns that most of his new coworkers are vegetarians. Markus begins eating vegetarian lunches at work, although he doesn't believe there is anything wrong with eating meat and continues to do so outside of work. Marcus is displaying: a. private acceptance. b. public compliance. c. normative focus. d. informational influence. 13. Which of the following statements about conformity is NOT true? a. Conformity increases with group size, but only to a point. b. Conformity always involves deliberate thought. c. One dissenting voice can contribute to other dissenting voices. d. A person's reference group plays a role in conformity. 14. All the following statements are ethical concerns about Milgram's research EXCEPT which one? a. Participants were not aware that they were part of a psychological study. b.Many participants learned that they were potentially capable of doing harm to another person simply because they were told to do so. c. It was stressful for participants to be in a situation where they were being ordered to do harm to another person. d.Participants could have damage done to their self-image. 15. The fact that people from collectivist cultures are more likely to conform to social pressure suggests that: a. conformity almost never occurs in individualist cultures. b. conformity is often a sign of a timid personality. c. people only conform with great reluctance. d. people sometimes conform in order to promote group cohesion. 16. In a classic study, participants were led to believe that they were to punish another participant with electric shocks of increasing voltage. Participants were encouraged to continue increasing the voltage and the majority of participants did increase the voltage. This study is: a. Asch's study of conformity. b. Milgram's study of obedience. c. Zimbardo's study on social roles. chapter 7 d. Moscovici's study of minority influence. 17. Which of the following is NOT a true statement about social learning? a. People are more likely to imitate a model if they see that the model is reinforced for the behavior. b.People are more likely to imitate a model if they see the model has received no consequences for the behavior. c. People are more likely to imitate a model if the model is likable. d.People are more likely to imitate a model if they are in the same motivational state as the model. 18. The chameleon effect is the: a. fact that mood changes match the surrounding environment. b. common inclination to attribute one's arousal to salient situational factors. c. fact that attitudes become more extreme when people with opposing views interact. d. tendency to unconsciously mimic the nonverbal behaviors of a conversation partner. 19. Which of the following statements about social proof is NOT true? a. It is more likely to occur in individualistic cultures. b. It is a tendency to conform based on our respect for others. c. It is more likely to occur in collectivistic cultures. d. It relies on social comparison. 20. Joaquin is at a car lot. A salesperson named Lucy has offered him a car he wants at a price that he agrees to accept. Lucy goes inside the staff room and a few minutes later a new salesperson, Sahana, comes out. Sahana tells Joaquin that there was actually a miscommunication and the price of the car is somewhat higher. If the lowball works, then what will Joaquin do? a. Joaquin will pay the new, higher price for the car. b. Joaquin will likely refuse to pay the new price and walk away. c. Joaquin will pay the higher price only if his self-perception has not changed. d. Joaquin will not pay the new, higher price and will second-guess his decision. 21. All of the following are reasons that researchers have suggested for the influence of scarcity on compliance EXCEPT which statement? a. People feel that the scarcity of an item threatens their freedom of choice. b. People experience less dissonance after choosing a scarce item. c. Scarce items attract closer scrutiny, so people pay more attention to them. d. People have a desire for, and feel that they must have, things that are in short supply. chapter 7 22. Yesterday, Shivani put some items in her online shopping cart but didn't buy them. Today, some of the items are gone because, according to the website, they have sold out. This persuades Shivani to quickly buy the items that remain in her cart. Shivani was affected by: a. the norm of reciprocity. b. the norm for social commitment. c. the door-in-the-face effect. d. the appearance of scarcity. 23. Based on our understanding of charismatic leadership, which of the following was NOT a factor that contributed to Hitler's rise to power? a. the German defeat in World War I b.Hitler's emphasis on an us-versus-them philosophy (the pure Germans versus the impure Jews, homosexuals, and other deviants) c. the fact that Hitler did not have the physical appearance of a typical German figurehead d.the economic crisis of the 1930s 24. The _____ compliance technique is best explained by self-perception theory. a. lowball b. foot-in-the-door c. reciprocity d. door-in-the-face 25. Reicher and Haslam (2006) conducted a study similar to the Stanford Prison Experiment, where participants were randomly assigned to prisoner vs. guard roles. What did they find? a. None of their participants displayed the type of role-consistent behaviors that had been observed in the original Stanford Prison Experiment. b.They almost perfectly replicated the original Stanford Prison Experiment, with guards displaying sadistic behaviors and prisoners displaying submissive behaviors. c. Prisoners displayed role-consistent submissive behaviors, but guards did not display the sadistic behaviors observed in the original Stanford Prison Experiment. d.The degree to which participants displayed role-consistent behaviors depended on how thoroughly they had internalized the social identity of their assigned role. 26. Which of the following is NOT true about obedience? a. The pressure to obey is subtle. b. The pressure to obey is explicit. c. Hierarchical power structures contribute to obedience. d. Social roles can dictate power. chapter 7 27. In research on obedience in the Netherlands, Meeus and Raaijmakers (1995) found that participants were especially likely to obey commands that are harmful to another person when: a. the harm is not physical and the other person appears innocent. b. there are norms in the culture that encourage doing harm to others. c. the other person appears innocent and the participant will be financially compensated. d. the harm is not physical and won't occur until after the participant is out of the situation. 28. The process through which dissenters produce attitude change in a group is called: a. conversion. b. the minority slowness effect. c. minority influence. d. the foot-in-the-door effect. 29. Cialdini's (1978) study on the lowballing technique, involving student participation in a psychological experiment, found that: a. participants who were asked to sign up for a study, and then asked if they could come at 7:00 a.m. were more likely to attend than participants who were first told the study started at 7:00 a.m. b.participants who were first told that a study started at 7:00 a.m. were more likely to attend than participants who were asked to sign up before they knew the time of the study. c. participants were more likely to attend a later study if they first agreed to sign a form for the experimenter. d.participants were more likely to sign a form for an experimenter if they had first been asked to participate in a later study. 30. The term for the phenomenon where feelings, ideas, and behaviors spread rapidly through a group of people is called: a. hysteria. b. social contagion. c. the chameleon effect. d. mindlessness. 31. Persuasion by the majority opinion is typically _____, while persuasion by the minority opinion is typically _____. a. an automatic process; a controlled process b. a controlled process; an automatic process c. through public compliance; through private acceptance d. through private acceptance; through public compliance chapter 7 32. People are more likely to comply with a request for an unusual amount of money like $1.77 because: a. unusual requests activate descriptive norms. b. unusual requests interrupt people's automatic responding routine. c. people want to please the person making the request. d. a person's self-perception can be temporarily altered by an unusual request. 33. In Zimbardo's classic Stanford Prison Experiment, the behavior of the participants was attributed to: a. their preexisting beliefs around guards and prisoners. b. the charismatic leader. c. the personality traits of the participants. d. the roles the participants played. 34. Violeta asks her friend to lend her 50 cents. After her friend gets out her wallet, Violeta changes her request and asks if she could actually have $5. Violeta has used: a. the foot-in-the-door technique. b. the door-in-the-face technique. c. informational influence. d. the norm of reciprocity. 35. Which of these statements is accurate, according to research on minority influence? a. Minority influence is an agent for conservation of tradition. b. Minority opinions are expressed more slowly than majority opinions. c. Minority opinions tend not to be distinctive. d. Minority opinions tend to be less carefully processed than majority opinions. 36. Minorities are more likely to be influential: a. in matters of opinion. b. in matters of fact. c. during times of prosperity. d. when the person to be influenced is tired or under stress. 37. Linjay watched all her neighbors "go green" and begin to recycle, even though recycling is not mandatory. Linjay began to recycle too. Linjay was following a(n) _____ norm. a. descriptive b. proscriptiv e c. injunctive d. productive 38. The minority slowness effect is when: a. it usually takes longer for a person to accept the same arguments from a chapter 7 minority group member than from a majority group member. b.social change among minority group members is faster than it is among majority group members. c. members of minority groups tend to react more slowly to persuasive influence. d.people holding the minority position take more time to express their opinions. 39. Kimin's English class is discussing whether they should spend more time focusing on writing exercises instead of analyzing texts. Kimin believes they should focus more on text analysis, but everyone else in the class wants to focus on writing exercises. If Kimin is asked to write down his preference and hand it to the instructor, what will he likely do? a. Kimin will stick to his original opinion and express support for greater focus on analyzing texts. b.Even though he doesn't really agree, Kimin will conform to the group and express support for more writing exercises. c. Kimin will express support for the group opinion and will actually convince himself that this is what he wants. d.Kimin will experience a great deal of internal conflict and will find it difficult to express any opinion. 40. "Buy Bambi on DVD now before it is sealed in the Disney vault" is an example of: a. the foot in the door. b. the reciprocity norm. c. reciprocity. d. scarcity. 41. How does an existential perspective explain the appeal of charismatic leaders? a. Charismatic leaders appeal to people's desires for meaning and security. b. Charismatic leaders appeal to people's desires for economic prosperity. c. Charismatic leaders appeal to people's desires for peace and tranquility. d. Charismatic leaders appeal to people's desires for love and relatedness. 42. Which of the following statements about Milgram's research is TRUE? a. Women were less likely to obey the experimenter than men. b. Only people in certain cultures are likely to obey the experimenter. c. The experimenter never made it clear what the penalty to the participant would be for disobedience. d. Research suggests that rates of disobedience have gone down in recent decades. 43. Sherrice and her coworkers are invited to a fancy dinner party by their boss. Sherrice wants to make a good impression on her boss and colleagues, but she has never attended this type of party and isn't sure what the etiquette is. Throughout the meal, Sherrice imitates her neighbors' silverware choices and napkin placement. chapter 7 This example illustrates: a. neither informational nor normative influence. b. primarily informational influence. c. primarily normative influence. d. both informational and normative influence. 44. The major reason that participants obeyed the experimenter's commands to shock the learner in the original Milgram study was that the: a. participants were similar to the experimenter. b. experimenter was an especially likable person. c. participants had an unconscious desire to punish the learner. d. experimenter seemed to be a legitimate authority figure. 45. Brain scans of nonconformists showed increased activation of the: a. hippocampus. b. occipital areas. c. parietal areas. d. amygdala. 46. All of the following were steps Milgram reported taking to ensure the ethicality of the research EXCEPT which statement? a. Participants met the learner after the study and were able to see that he was completely unharmed. b. Participants were repeatedly made aware that they could stop the study at any time. c. Participants were extensively debriefed. d. Participants were examined by a psychiatrist one year after the study. 47. Which of the following statements is NOT true about culturally defined social situations? a. The cultural context automatically activates the norm for behavior. b. The cultural context is so powerful that all people follow the cultural scripts. c. Nonconformists show less automatic activation of norms supplied by the cultural context. d. Culturally defined situations have particular scripts of how to behave. 48. Zoltan is trying to decide where to go on his lunch break. He remembers that yesterday three of his coworkers whom he especially admires went to a Thai food restaurant. Research suggests he will likely go to the Thai restaurant because of: a. normative influence. b. the norm for social commitment. c. reciprocity. chapter 7 d. social proof. 49. Milgram surveyed psychology professionals before he conducted his original study. The results of the survey showed that: a. they underestimated the extent of obedience. b. they overestimated the extent of obedience. c. the professionals were approximately accurate in their estimates. d. most professionals refused to provide an estimate. 50. Researchers asked some subjects to be unpaid counselors to delinquents for two years, and then asked them to take the delinquents to the zoo once. Other subjects were asked only to be unpaid counselors. Still other subjects were only asked to take the delinquents to the zoo. Knowing what you know about compliance techniques, what were the results? In other words, when did people comply the most? a. More people complied with the zoo request when it was presented first. b. More people complied with the zoo request when it was preceded by the counselor request. c. More people complied with the zoo request when it was presented alone. d. More people complied with the counselor request than with the zoo request. 51. One idea Milgram proposed to explain the behavior of his participants was the idea of an "agentic state." What does this mean? a. a state in which people see themselves as agents or instruments of the authority figure b. a state in which people feel a high degree of personal agency, power, and freedom c. a state in which the authority figure is perceived as an agent of a higher power d. a state in which the learner/victim is perceived as an agent of hostile, nefarious forces 52. In a study of social priming, some subjects were stopped at a red light and approached by a passerby who asked for directions. Shortly after the light turned green, subjects encountered a stalled car at an intersection. The researchers found: a. subjects who had been primed to be helpful were less likely to honk their horns at the stalled car. b. subjects who had not been primed to be helpful were less likely to honk their horns at the stalled car. c. priming did not affect the results. d. subjects, regardless of the prime, were likely to state that they would always help a stranger in need. 53. A couple receives a $200 Visa gift card as a free gift for attending an information session about vacation timeshares. After receiving this gift, the couple agrees to schedule a one-on-one meeting with a salesperson to hear their full sales pitch. This example illustrates the influence of: chapter 7 a. the norm for social commitment. b. injunctive social norms. c. descriptive social norms. d. the norm of reciprocity. 54. Which of the following is an accurate statement about conformity and group size? (Assuming a unanimous group in which everyone but the test subject agrees.) a. There is more conformity with 1 to 2 people versus 3 to 5 people. b. There is more conformity with 3 to 5 people versus 1 to 2 people. c. The size of the group doesn't have an effect on conformity. d. Larger group size always increases conformity. 55. Burger's replication of Milgram's study differed from the original because: a. fewer people obeyed at the 450-volt level. b. more people refused to continue the study. c. Burger ended the experiment at the 150-volt level. d. Burger's participants reported higher levels of stress post-study. 56. Participants in a study on obedience would be LEAST likely to obey: a. in the presence of a legitimate authority figure. b. if the person giving the command is another study participant. c. if the learner is in the same room. d. if they see two other participants in the study refuse to obey. 57. Burger's replication of Milgram's studies on obedience found that compared with people in the 1970s, people in his study were _____ likely to obey authority. a. less b. just as c. more d. not 58. The emphasis of the focus theory of normative conduct is the role that _____ plays in enhancing normative influence. a. social contagion b. salience c. imitating others d. mindlessness 59. _____ is most likely to result in private acceptance. a. Normative influence b. Social contagion chapter 7 c. Informational influence d. An injunctive norm 60. Which statement below BEST explains the idea that reality is socially constructed? a. There is no such thing as an objective external reality or objective truth. b. Our perceptions and actions are profoundly shaped by cultural norms and worldviews. c. It is impossible for people to "unlearn" the norms they were socialized into. d. People frequently imitate the behavior and attitudes of others around them. 61. According to the focus theory of normative conduct, _____ are beliefs about what the majority of people typically do, while _____ are beliefs about what is considered right and wrong in the culture. a. majority focus; moral focus b. moral focus; majority focus c. descriptive norms; injunctive norms d. injunctive norms; descriptive norms 62. A hotel manager is trying to convince guests to conserve water by reusing their bathroom towels. In all the bathrooms she places signs that read, "Discarding your towel to be cleaned after only one use wastes water and should not be done. Many guests discard their towel after just one use, leading to a massive drain on our local water resources." The manager has activated _____. This tactic _____. a. an injunctive norm only; should lead to less of the desired behavior b. an injunctive norm only; should lead to more of the desired behavior c. a descriptive norm only; should lead to less of the desired behavior d. both a descriptive and an injunctive norm; will not influence the desired behavior 63. Private acceptance is: a. conforming only outwardly without changing one's inner beliefs. b. privately believing in something that the rest of one's group does not believe in. c. conforming by altering both inner beliefs and public behaviors. d. accepting the norm for social commitment. 64. Your town is considering making all of its police officers "plainclothes" officers who don't wear recognizable uniforms. Milgram's research suggests that people will be _____ to obey orders from a plainclothes officer vs. a uniformed officer. a. more likely b. equally likely c. less likely chapter 7 d. faster 65. Which of the following factors would have a stronger influence on compliance on someone from an individualistic culture than on someone from a collectivistic culture? a. how others have responded to the same request b. how other people believe one ought to respond to the request c. whether they have received a favor or gift from the requestor d. how they themselves have responded to similar requests in the past 66. Along with the legitimacy of the authority figure, _____ is the second most important variable influencing obedience. a. similarity b. physical distance c. gender d. witnessing defiance 67. According to Moscovici's conversion theory, minority opinions can be more persuasive and sway the majority because: a. minority opinions exert informational, rather than normative, influence. b. minority opinions are more distinctive and thus processed more deeply. c. minority group members are better at employing compliance tactics. d. minority opinions are generally more accurate and unbiased. 68. According to research on gender and conformity, men would be most likely to conform to majority opinions in a conversation about: a. sports. b. the stock market. c. childcare. d. lawn mowers. 69. For Burger (2009) to conduct a replication of Milgram's obedience studies, he had to change the original procedures. Which of the following changes did Burger make? a. He made both audio and visual recordings of the study. b. He stopped each round after a shock of 150 volts. c. He paid all participants $50. d. He told participants the purpose of the study in the beginning. 70. In Bandura's classic Bobo doll studies, children were more likely to imitate the behavior they observed if the: a. children were present in the room. b. model showed remorse after his/her behavior. chapter 7 c. model was rewarded for his/her behavior. d. environment encouraged exploration. 71. Historically, people are likely to elevate a charismatic leader to power in: a. a period of stable economic growth. b. a time of economic depression. c. a period of cultural renaissance. d. a time when a country's middle class is growing. 72. Adelese desperately wants to be accepted by her peers at her new school. As a result, she starts dressing and acting like they do. Adelese is responding to: a. social contagion. b. informational influence. c. normative influence. d. injunctive norms. 73. Watching someone behave aggressively increases the salience of aggression-related concepts. This is an example of: a. social priming. b. hysterical contagion. c. the role of mirror neurons. d. conformity to norms. 74. Which feature of Asch's classic conformity studies suggests that their results are mainly revealing of normative influence, and not informational influence? a. The confederates were attractive, so participants were strongly motivated to fit in with them. b. The confederates acted foolish, so participants saw them as unreliable sources of information. c. The confederates were highly similar to participants, creating a shared ingroup identity. d. The task was easy, so participants weren't reliant on confederates as a source of information. 75. The spread of complaints of illness, with no organic basis, within a work or school environment is called: a. mass influence. b. mass delusion. c. mass psychogenic illness. d. social influence. 76. A leader who makes swift, confident decisions and conveys the sense that the group's worldview is sacred chapter 7 and superior is a(n) _____ leader. a. existential b. normative c. authoritative d. charismatic 77. Under which of the following conditions did Milgram record the highest rate of obedience? a. when participants delivered shocks to the learner from a separate room b. when the participants recruited for the "teacher" role were women c. when participants were in the same room as the learner d. when participants were not directly responsible for shocking the learner 78. When a person mentally envisions kicking a soccer ball while watching someone else kick a soccer ball, _____ are involved. a. interneurons neurons b. mirror neurons c. rehearsal cells d. the social reflexes 79. Research has found that, when people find another person likable, they are more likely to change their own attitudes to match the other person's attitudes. What does this imply? a. People often mimic others because of motivations to get along and form social bonds. b. People often mimic others to signal that they are both members of the same ingroup. c. People often mimic others because it is easier than figuring out how to act on their own. d. People often mimic others because they feel insecure and uncertain about how to act. 80. Sherif's work on the autokinetic effect primarily demonstrates the power of _____, and Asch's studies on line judgments demonstrate the power of _____. a. social roles; normative influence b. normative influence; informational influence c. informational influence; normative influence d. compliance tactics; informational influence 81. Social contagion may be explained, in part, by _____ and _____. a. mimicry; injunctive norms b. social priming; descriptive norms c. mimicry; social priming chapter 7 d. descriptive norms; social commitment norms 82. Which of the following statements about reference groups is NOT true? a. People typically want approval from their reference group more than other groups. b. Reference groups are sources of both informational and normative influence. c. People typically trust reference groups more than other groups. d. Reference groups are sources only of informational influence. 83. Which of the following statements gives the best summary of Milgram's findings? a. Most people show a high degree of obedience across most social situations. b. Some individuals show a high degree of obedience, while others rarely obey. c. Most people show a high degree of obedience under specific conditions. d. Only people with psychopathic personalities will obey orders to harm another person. 84. Milgram's study on conformity demonstrated that people are likely to look up to the sky if they see someone else doing so. Furthermore, this research demonstrated that: a. people will follow the other person's gaze if they already know what the person is looking at. b.the greater the number of people looking up, the less likely it is that the participant will look up. c. the likelihood of the participant looking up increases dramatically if 5 people are looking up instead of one. d.the likelihood of the participant looking up increases dramatically if 15 people are looking up instead of 5. 85. The door-in-the-face technique: a. is an example of informational social influence. b. relies at least in part on the norm of reciprocity. c. relies heavily on social perception theory. d. works when others we respect are observing us. 86. A reference group is: a. a group with which an individual strongly identifies. b. a group of people who has known the individual since birth. c. a set of pieces of information about a particular topic. d. the sum total of other people who have a normative influence on the person's life. 87. In Milgram's first study, with a sample of 20- to 50-year-old men, 65% of them: chapter 7 a. refused to shock the learner beyond 150 volts. b. shocked the learner up to the maximum level of 450 volts. c. refused to participate in the experiment at all. d. asked to be released from the experiment at 135 volts. 88. The belief that we should honor a public agreement, even if the circumstances surrounding the agreement change, is the: a. norm for social commitment. b. descriptive norm. c. injunctive norm. d. norm of reciprocity. 89. All of the following are social influence areas EXCEPT which one? a. creative thinking b. compliance techniques c. conformity to norms d. following commands from authority 90. Adnna is a liberal. She just joined a committee made up mainly of conservatives, so Adnna holds a minority opinion on the committee. If she wants to influence the group, she should: a. remain quiet. b. express her opinion only once. c. express her opinion, but also state the conservative viewpoint. d. express a consistent viewpoint. 91. A nature park wants to post signs that will reduce the rate of littering in the park. Which of the following messages would probably be the LEAST effective? a. "Lots of park visitors litter. Please don't be one of them." b. "All trash and recyclables must be disposed of properly." c. "Most park visitors don't litter. Follow their example!" d. "There is no excuse for littering in the park!" 92. The primary implication that Zimbardo drew from the Stanford Prison Experiment was: a. cultural expectations surrounding social roles can have a major influence on behavior. b. injunctive norms are particularly strong guides to behavior in strange situations. c. personality is a stronger determinant of behavior than situational factors. d. only disturbed individuals are likely to abuse power when they are granted it. chapter 7 93. Berns et al. (2005) scanned participants' brains while they made judgments about the spatial orientation of 3-D figures. One group of participants was given feedback about how other people thought the figures were oriented. Which area(s) of their brains showed the most activity? a. amygdala b. rostral cingulate cortex c. nucleus accumbens d. occipital-parietal areas 94. Ms. Heacock has received a free T-shirt from the Animal Protection Association. After reviewing the request for donations, Ms. Heacock sends a check to the Animal Protection Association. Ms. Heacock's behavior illustrates the: a. foot-in-the door effect. b. norm of reciprocity. c. lowball effect. d. door-in-the-face effect. 95. Which of the following is NOT a true statement about the foot-in-the-door effect? a. It is based on first complying with a large request. b. It is explained by self-perception theory. c. Refusing a second request would likely result in dissonance. d. It is based on first complying with a small request. 96. Classic research on the "autokinetic effect" showed that judgments about the distance a point of light moves can be affected by other people. This research demonstrated that: a. only explicit attitudes can be modified through social influence. b. even perception can be influenced by processes of conformity. c. commands from authority figures are a key source of influence. d. informational influence is not as important as normative influence. 97. In the _____ technique, a person is presented with a larger request before being presented with the real request; in the _____ technique, a person is presented with a smaller request before being presented with the real request. a. reciprocity; lowballing b. lowballing; reciprocity c. foot-in-the-door; door-in-the-face d. door-in-the-face; foot-in-the-door 98. An effective method to test the ideas of social learning theory would be to: a. prime participants with pictures of faces or with numbers before they are asked to complete a math test. b.create a novel task for participants to learn and then have them learn the task either with the assistance of experienced others or on their own. chapter 7 c. ask a group of inventors and scientists how they came up with their most groundbreaking ideas. d.randomly assign participants to either learn about famous people or learn about famous places, and assess how well they perform on each learning task. 99. The payment schedule of the Rev. Jim Jones's People's Temple, where individuals began by making a small contribution and then escalated to a larger contribution, illustrates the effectiveness of applying: a. reactance. b. reciprocity. c. the foot-in-the door technique. d. the door-in-the-face technique. 100. A belief about what most people typically do in situations is called: a. an injunctive norm. b. informational influence. c. norm for social commitment. d. a descriptive norm. 101. In Burger and Caldwell's foot-in-the-door study, the participants who showed the highest rates of compliance with a request to volunteer to help the homeless were: a. those who had simply signed a petition to help the homeless earlier in the study. b. those who signed a petition to help the homeless and were complimented on their charity. c. those who received $1 to sign a petition for the homeless earlier in the study. d. those who completed surveys with no other prompting prior to the request. 102. In a study by Regan (1971), subjects worked with a confederate who was either likable or rude. In one condition, the confederate came back from a break and gave the participant a Coke. In another condition, the participant received a Coke from the experimenter. In a third condition the participant did not receive a Coke. At the end of the experiment the confederate asked the participant to buy some lottery tickets. What result was observed? a. Participants who did not receive a Coke during the study bought tickets more often. b.Participants who were given a Coke by the confederate bought tickets more often. c. Participants who were given a Coke by the experimenter bought tickets more often. d.Participants who were given a Coke by the confederate bought more tickets, but only if the confederate was likable. 103. The most important variable in the Milgram studies was: chapter 7 a. the perceived legitimacy of the experimenter's authority. b. the amount of compensation received by the "teacher." c. the physical distance between the learner and the teacher. d. the personality of the learner. 104. Which of the following is an accurate statement about replications of Milgram's work? a. Replications of Milgram's work have not been attempted because of ethical concerns. b. Replications have generally found rates of obedience lower than Milgram initially found. c. Replications have generally found rates of obedience similar to what Milgram initially found. d. Replications have generally found rates of obedience higher than Milgram initially found. 105. The results of Ellen Langer's research on mindlessness indicated that compliance to move to the front of the line to make copies occurred the most: a. when the person didn't give a reason for needing to use the machine. b. when the person explained that they were in a rush. c. when the person said they needed to make some copies. d. when the person said either they were in a rush or that they needed to make copies. 106. Jake is the only one of his six friends who wants to go see the new superhero movie. Based on research, what would be the ideal set of circumstances to give Jake the chance to convince his friends that he's right? a. His friends are too tired to pay much attention to his arguments, they see themselves as very similar to Jake, and Jake seems willing to compromise. b.His friends are ready to pay close attention to his arguments, they see themselves as very similar to Jake, and Jake seems willing to compromise. c. His friends are ready to pay close attention to his arguments, they see themselves as very different from Jake, and Jake seems willing to compromise. d.His friends are ready to pay close attention to his arguments, they see themselves as very different from Jake, and Jake doesn't seem willing to compromise. 107. Extrapolating from Milgram's work, when is a soldier going to be most willing to kill enemy combatants or civilians? a. when he is alone in the same room with the enemy b. when he is trying to make his own decision about whether to kill c. when he has been ordered to by his superior d. when other members of their squad are telling him to do so chapter 7 108. Based on conformity research, which of the following situational changes would likely result in the SMALLEST reduction in conformity? a. decreasing the size of a unanimous group from 10 to 2 b. decreasing the size of a unanimous group from 15 to 10 c. adding one dissenter to an otherwise unanimous group of 10 d. portraying the members of a unanimous group as low in status 109. In Asch's original conformity research, 25% of participants did not display any conformity at all. What does this observation suggest? a. Aspects of participants' shared American culture influenced the rate of conformity. b. Elements of the experimental social situation influenced the rate of conformity. c. Personality traits or other individual differences influenced the rate of conformity. d. The study was too flawed to draw strong conclusions about influences on conformity. 110. If a nurse receives a call from a doctor whom he doesn't recognize, and is asked to administer an excessive dose of a drug to a patient, what is the nurse likely to do? a. give the dose to the patient without hesitation b. ask the doctor to come in person to confirm the order c. call another superior to question the identity of the doctor d. refuse to give the dose to the patient 111. Which of the following does NOT boost minority influence? a. consistency b. self-confidence c. openness and flexibility d. unyielding resolve 112. Which of the following is NOT a way that minorities can be more influential? a. being self-confident b. appearing willing to compromise c. belonging to a different ingroup from the person being persuaded d. getting a member of the majority to defect to the minority position 113. All of the following reasons have been given by Milgram or others for why the participants obeyed in his studies EXCEPT which statement? a. People in all cultures are socialized to obey authority figures starting at an early age. b.People have inherited a natural instinct to obey a person who appears to be a leader in a situation. chapter 7 c. At the time the study was conducted, most U.S. adults had been raised in authoritarian families. d.In the paradigm, participants only gradually administer increasingly harmful doses of electricity to the learner. 114. People with high self-awareness and self-esteem are: a. less likely to conform. b. more likely to conform. c. less likely to conform if their self-esteem is based on what others value. d. more likely to conform in public situations. 115. If Tia becomes obese, there is an increased likelihood that Tia's friend will also become obese. This is because of: a. social contagion. b. injunctive norms. c. informational influence. d. the reference group effect. 116. Learning by watching and imitating is called: a. operant conditioning. b. classical conditioning. c. social learning. d. latent learning. 117. Which of the following messages highlights a dynamic norm? a. "The majority of American teens do not use tobacco products, including vaporizers." b. "Using tobacco products, including vaporizers, is an irresponsible choice for your health." c. "Almost a quarter of American teens report using vaporizers to consume tobacco products." d. "Every day, more and more American teens are deciding to quit using tobacco products." 118. When we rely on others to find out what is true or accurate, this is _____; when we seek to meet others' expectations in order to be accepted, this is _____. a. public compliance; private acceptance b. private acceptance; public compliance c. informational influence; normative influence d. normative influence; informational influence 119. In the Milgram studies all of the following were factors that determined obedience EXCEPT which one? chapter 7 a. the "learner's" similarity to the "teacher" b. the physical distance between teacher and learner c. the authority's physical proximity to the teacher d. the authority figure's perceived legitimacy 120. The explanation that people are influenced by a minority because of the minority's distinctive position capturing the majority's attention is called: a. social contagion. b. normative influence. c. informational influence. d. conversion theory. 121. You see a group of friends who are sitting in a coffee shop. One person crosses their legs. When you look over again, everyone has their legs crossed. This is an example of a. the chameleon effect. b. an injunctive norm. c. a descriptive norm. d. informational influence. 122. In the case of _____, the pressure to change someone's opinion or behavior is usually implicit; in the case of _____, the pressure to change someone's opinion or behavior is usually explicitly acknowledged as a goal. a. obedience; conformity b. compliance; lowballing c. compliance; conformity d. conformity; compliance 123. A key to minority influence is: a. creativity. b. consistency. c. normative influence. d. injunctive norms. 124. Asch's classic studies on line-length judgments in group settings have shown that: a. social roles are one of the most important sources of situational influence. b. people can become very aggressive when they are asked to conform. c. people are very unlikely to publicly comply with normative influence. d. people will often conform to a group opinion, even if it goes against their own chapter 7 perception. 125. Research by Cohen and colleagues found that participants were more likely to endorse a hypothetical candidate with a charismatic leadership style when: a. the thought of an upcoming exam was salient. b. the thought of their own mortality was salient. c. they had recently experienced a threat to their self-esteem. d. the candidate also had elements of a task-oriented style. 126. In Moscovici's early study on color judgments in a group, the data revealed that group members were most likely to be influenced by a minority judgment if: a. judgments were made publicly. b. judgments were made privately. c. the minority was inconsistent in their opinion. d. the minority was consistent in their opinion. 127. In their study of the effects of mortality salience on support for different types of political candidates, Cohen et al. (2004) found that: a. mortality salience increased support for charismatic leaders, decreased support for relationship-oriented leaders, and had no effect on support for task-oriented leaders. b.mortality salience decreased support for both charismatic leaders and relationship-oriented leaders, and increased support for task-oriented leaders. c. mortality salience increased support for both charismatic leaders and relationship-oriented leaders, and had no effect on support for task-oriented leaders. d.mortality salience had no effect on support for charismatic leaders, and increased support for both relationship-oriented and task-oriented leaders. 128. Another term for automatic responding is: a. foot-in-the-door. b. door-in-the-face. c. lowballing. d. mindlessness. 129. Which of the following statements best explains the distinction between injunctive norms and descriptive norms? a. Injunctive norms deal with what behaviors are actually normative in society, and descriptive norms deal with individuals' perceptions of what behaviors are normative. b.Injunctive norms deal with what behaviors are common or typical, and descriptive norms deal with what behaviors are considered right or appropriate. chapter 7 c. Injunctive norms deal with individuals' perceptions of what behaviors are normative, and descriptive norms deal with what behaviors are actually normative in society. d.Injunctive norms deal with what behaviors are considered right or appropriate, and descriptive norms deal with what behaviors are common or typical. 130. Which of the following is NOT an example of social learning? a. A child learns kickboxing from watching a movie. b. A teen learns to drive in part by observing what other drivers do. c. A dog learns how to behave faster in the presence of other trained dogs. d. An early human accidentally discovers how to light a fire. 131. On the first day of classes, Ashraf does not know how to address his professor. He listens and hears other students address the professor as "Doctor" and then addresses the professor in the same way. This is an example of: a. normative influence. b. informational influence. c. the chameleon effect. d. an injunctive norm. 132. Which of the following is an example of social contagion? a. A teacher reports smelling gasoline and begins to feel nauseous; soon most of the school's population also feels nauseous. Later, it is discovered that there was never a gas leak. b.A politician gives a very moving speech in which he argues that the nation is superior to all other nations. The crowd cheers very loudly. c. A person is suffering from a severe injury on the side of the road. However, people driving by fail to stop to help even though they notice the injured person. d.A shopper notices a sign in the electronics store, saying that supplies of a certain tablet are limited. The shopper decides to buy the tablet based on this information. 133. _____ is a technique that works based on the norm for social commitment, whereas _____ is a technique that works based on self-perception processes. a. Reciprocity; the door-in-the-face technique b. The door-in-the-face technique; reciprocity c. Lowballing; the foot-in-the-door technique d. The foot-in-the-door technique; lowballing chapter 7 134. Explain what is meant by the "social construction of reality," and how people are influenced by culturally defined social situations and social roles. Include original examples of a culturally defined social situation and a culturally defined social role. 135. Define conformity, and discuss the variables that play a role in conformity. 136. Define reference groups, and explain how reference groups affect processes of both informational and normative influence. Develop original examples illustrating a reference group affecting each of these types of social influence processes. 137. Describe two variations on the shock-the-learner paradigm used in Milgram's classic study on obedience. 138. Briefly describe Sherif's studies on the autokinetic effect and Asch's studies on judgments of line length. What do these two sets of studies tell us about the nature of conformity? 139. Describe examples of one descriptive norm and one injunctive norm that exist at your college. 140. Define the door-in-the-face effect, and provide an example. 141. Describe informational influence and normative influence. Provide a real-life example of each. 142. Distinguish between informational influence and normative influence. 143. Explain the norm for social commitment, including an original example that illustrates this norm in action. 144. Discuss the neural processes associated with conformity. Describe what the neuroscience perspective teaches about conformity. Cite research to support the answer. 145. Explain the significance of the recent revelation that Zimbardo gave the guards in the Stanford Prison Experiment more direct orders to mistreat the prisoners than he initially revealed. How does this change the interpretation of the study? 146. Define social learning theory, and describe some of the major findings from research related to social learning theory. 147. Imagine that you have the task of convincing people to help your volunteer organization improve the lives of homeless people in your city. You want people to donate money to the organization or to volunteer some spare time to help carry out relief and assistance activities. What kind of compliance tactics might you use to convince people to help your cause? How specifically could you use these tactics to secure their help? 148. Define mindlessness, and cite one example from research on people being more likely to comply with a request due to mindlessness. 149. Describe the basic procedure and purpose of Milgram's classic study on obedience. 150. Discuss two different reasons why perceived scarcity leads to increased sales of a product. chapter 7 151. Define the foot-in-the-door and lowballing effects, and identify one similarity and one difference between them. 152. Define minority influence, and describe how minorities exert their influence. 153. Discuss the ways that people representing a minority opinion can increase their chances of influencing the majority. 154. Briefly describe the Stanford Prison Experiment and the primary lesson it taught about human social behavior. 155. Describe a charismatic leader. Describe the situations when a charismatic leader may rise to power. Give an example of a leader from recent history whom you believe to be a charismatic leader. Based on research on charismatic leaders, describe why you believe this particular person fits the category of charismatic leader. 156. Explain why informational influence is generally more likely to lead to private acceptance than normative influence. 157. Briefly describe the methods and results of Asch's classic conformity studies. 158. Discuss the two types of norms outlined in Cialdini's focus theory of normative conduct. 159. Define the chameleon effect, and cite supporting research. 160. Define obedience. Describe how obedience differs from conformity. Describe why obedience is common in the United States, the variables that influence obedience, and the reasons why people obey. 161. Briefly describe the autokinetic effect studies and what they demonstrated about conformity. 162. Discuss two personality or situational variables that influence the likelihood individuals will demonstrate conformity. 163. Define social learning and identify the factors that play a role in imitating others. 164. Define social proof, and give an example of using social proof to promote compliance. 165. Discuss two reasons given why individuals are willing to commit even harmful actions as a result of obedience to authority. 166. Describe injunctive and descriptive norms. Cite research describing how these norms can change behavior. Provide an example of using these norms to change behavior. 167. Define reciprocity, and cite research demonstrating this effect. 168. Define minority influence. Discuss how minorities exert their influence. Describe ways that minorities can be more influential. Provide an example of when and how minority influence may occur. chapter 7 169. Define social learning theory. Describe Bandura's classic study on social learning. Describe the factors that are involved in social learning. Describe research findings on the related phenomenon of mimicry and its connection to liking and the desire to get along with others. 170. What are the distinguishing characteristics of a charismatic leader, and under what circumstances do charismatic leaders typically rise to power?