Statistics Exam 2

Exam 2 1. Comparing several methods of testing memory leads to which of these conclusions? A. Each memory is stored in a single location in the brain. *B. People might or might not remember something, depending on how we test them. C. Several testing methods are valid for use with children but not with adults. D. People who learn something in school usually forget it in real life. % Correct: 96.36 Comments: Though each of the above statements above are interesting, only answer B is supported by research. Memory of information can be tested through several techniques. We have found that some tests of memory might reveal no retention of a specific piece of information (i.e. a free recall test), while easier tests of memory (i.e. a recognition test) might actually reveal that there was a snippet of information contained within the mind. 2. What is unusual about implicit tests of memory, as compared to recall and recognition? A. Implicit tests measure the person's depth of processing. B. Implicit tests measure the activity of various brain areas. *C. Implicit tests often show memory even when people say they don’t remember. D. Implicit tests require people to explain how they remember. % Correct: 93.63 Comments: Implicit tests examine an individual’s ability to show memory through actions or responses to stimuli/environments. Research has consistently shown that there are many moments where we report no explicit memory of an event, but show clear signs of memory through our actions (implicit memories). These findings have made us aware of the unbelievable complexity of memory. 3. The "executive functioning" aspect of working memory is responsible for A. storing visual memories. B. controlling muscle movements. *C. shifting attention. D. rehearsing sounds. % Correct: 85.45 Comments: Working memory was a concept first conceived by Alan Baddelley. In his theory, Baddelley proposed that our mind is utilizing several memory-related components during any given interaction. The four components to this theory are the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer, and the central executive. This question is referencing the actions of the central executive, which is primarily tasked with directing our attention on a moment to moment basis. 4. You are given a list of grocery items to remember to purchase on your trip to the store. These items are; apples, bread, celery, lettuce, grapes, and onions. According to the recency effect, what item are you most likely to remember? A. apples B. lettuce *C. onions D. whichever food you ate most recently % Correct: 97.27 Comments: This question is addressing one of the ends to the serial position effect. The recency effect is the component being discussed. This effect suggests that the information that you most recently were exposed to is easier to retain. There are questions about the long-term benefits of the recency effect. But, for this scenario, if you are asked to recall the list relatively soon after its introduction, the word “onions” would be easiest to recall because of the recency effect. 5. When you are trying to memorize a list of words, the more you think about their meaning, the easier they will be to remember later. This is known as the A. von Restorff effect. B. state-dependent memory principle. *C. depth-of-processing principle. D. method of loci. % Correct: 96.36 Comments: Though the depth-of-processing model is very complex, and suggests that “deeper” processing can take on many forms, the act of thinking about the meaning of words is an example of “deep” processing that is described by the model. None of the other responses relate in any way to the example provided above. 6. Ebbinghaus used nonsense syllables in his experiments on memory because nonsense syllables are A. highly interesting. B. immune to interference effects. *C. unfamiliar. D. easy to remember. % Correct: 88.18 Comments: Hermann Ebbinghaus is considered one of the pioneers of early psychology. When others were arguing that we could never systematically study a complex topic like memory, Ebbinghaus was spending years attempting to find a way to measure basic aspects of memory on himself. To control for bias or past experience when testing his own memory, Ebbinghaus used nonsense syllables. These syllables allowed him to measure retention, forgetting, and other aspects of basic memory. 7. Mnemonic devices are most useful in helping people to do what? A. recover from brain damage. B. remember how to drive a car. C. improve episodic memory. *D. remember lists of unrelated words. % Correct: 92.72 Comments: The term “mnemonic device” is used to describe a technique utilized in order to enhance the successful retention of information. Though they can never permanently improve memory abilities, they can certainly increase memory capacity of a particular piece of information when being utilized on different tasks. 8. Professor Tryhard tries to learn the names of all her students every semester. As the years go by, she finds that she learns the names just as easily but forgets them faster. Why? A. retrograde amnesia B. state-dependent memory *C. proactive interference D. retroactive interference % Correct: 67.27 Comments: Though there could be several explanations for this, the best explanation from what we covered in the memory section is related to the topic of interference. Since this example is referencing the inability to retain new information because of past information, we’re looking specifically at what is called proactive interference. If the question was addressing the struggles to retain old information, we would have indicated that this was an example of retroactive interference. 9. The fact that we can hear our name even when engaged in another conversation is a problem for the ________ model of attention. A. attenuation *B. filter C. dual coding D. effort based % Correct: 68.18 Comments: The filter model of attention suggests that we block out all unattended information entirely when processing the large amount of information in our environment. Since we retain the ability to react to unattended information, there has to be at least a small amount of that information getting through. This finding was what led some researchers to look for alternative explanations for how we attenuate to information. 10. People watched a video with no school bus. One group was asked, “Did you see children getting off the school bus?” Later, both groups were asked, “Did you see a school bus?” What happened? A. People in both groups were equally likely to say “yes” to the second question. *B. People who heard the first question were more likely to say “yes” to the second one. C. People who heard the first question were more likely to say “no” to the second one. D. Almost no one said “yes” to the second question. % Correct: 90.90 Comments: This question related to the topic of memory distortions—in particular how we can manipulate the memory of others through suggestive questions. This topic was discussed extensively in the presentation and also in the book because of how a) interesting it is, and b) concerning it is. Research on this topic has suggested that we are all susceptible to cues that can impact the way we recall events—with some being even more susceptible than others. 11. Research on implanted (false) memories suggest that A. it is almost impossible to implant a false memory. *B. suggesting that something might have occurred may implant or distort a memory. C. all reports of childhood sexual abuse are implanted. D. courts should accept memories that are recovered by licensed therapists. % Correct: 97.27 Comments: Though there is a great deal of debate over the notion that we can create vivid false memories of events, there is considerable evidence that suggests that we can implant small distortions of information through questions or suggestions. Moreover, we as individuals can also alter our own memories through expectations or biases in the information that we are processing. 12. After damage to his hippocampus, patient H.M. lost most of his ability to A. recall memories of events that happened several years before the damage. *B. store new long-term memories. C. make use of his procedural memories. D. store new short-term memories. % Correct: 73.63 Comments: H.M. is a very famous individual in the field of psychology. His trauma to his hippocampus that he suffered greatly impacted his ability to consolidate information from STM to LTM. This unusual effect that he displayed allowed researchers to better understand the distinctiveness of these types of memory, as well as the processes involved in the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information. 13. The reconstruction effect suggests that *A. memory of an event can be distorted based on our anticipation of what we should have experienced. B. our memory of an event is only good if we can tie concepts together. C. we remember things better when interacting with others. D. comfort with material helps us remember things better. % Correct: 80 Comments: The reconstruction effect refers directly to our own ability to distort memories based on our own expectations, previous experiences, or biases that we bring into a situation. Numerous studies have been conducted over the years on this effect, all suggesting that we are capable of distorting or memory of many things (events, feelings, thoughts, details, etc.) as a result of our own input into our memories. 14. Mood dependent memory enhancement supports the ____________ concept of memory. A. loss of attention *B. encoding specificity C. levels of processing D. fan effect % Correct: 91.81 Comments: Mood dependent memory is a classic example of the encoding specificity theory. This effect suggests that our current mood can trigger/enhance memories of events where we experienced a similar mood. This topic of encoding specificity has also been tied to language, environments, and even physiological states. 15. Movie directors discovered that they can film different parts of the same scene on different days, and most viewers would not detect that the extras (background actors) had changed clothes or appearance. Psychologists call this failure to notice such differences A. priming. B. the attentional blink. *C. change blindness. D. the Stroop effect. % Correct: 95.45 Comments: Change blindness is the term used to describe our amazing inability to detect subtle changes (sometimes even no-so-subtle) in our environment. This phenomenon has been used to illuminate how fuzzy our memory of events is, even while we experience the events. Explanations for this effect have been tied to the topics of attention, working memory, and perception. 16. According to the conceptual network approach, we learn that a canary is a kind of bird, which is a kind of animal. We also learn the distinctive characteristics of canaries, birds, and animals. What evidence supports this view? A. People deal with many categories that are not clearly defined, such as "shore birds." *B. People answer faster when asked whether a canary is yellow and slower when asked whether a canary has skin. C. People who answer (correctly) that a canary has skin are likely also to say (incorrectly) that a canary has hair. D. People have trouble answering questions about kinds of birds that they have not personally seen. % Correct: 85.45 Comments: The conceptual network approach was designed as means of attempting to explain how we organize categories of information in our heads. Many theorists over the years—including our own Eleanor Rosch—have attempted to design comprehensive theories to explain how we organize and access the plethora of information contained within our heads. The CNA, suggests that we not only organize members of groups in our heads, but also the characteristics of those groups in our heads. The example provided above that supports this notion is answer B. 17. Based on the spreading activation theory, when you think about a particular word, which of these happens? A. You experience the Stroop effect. B. You experience the phi effect. *C. You prime yourself to think of related words. D. You prime yourself to think of unrelated words. % Correct: 96.36 Comments: The Stroop and phi effect have absolutely nothing to do with the topic of spreading activation—at least in no way that your instructor can imagine. This leaves us with two options for this question. The spreading activation theory is another theory generated to explain how we organize information in our heads—more importantly, how information becomes more easily processed by our mind. It suggests that information in our minds works like a spider web—in which, once one area of information is accessed, all of the other areas that are cognitively similar become more readily accessible as well. The answer that relates to this detail is answer C. In fact, answer D is false. 18. Strategies for simplifying a problem or for guiding an investigation are known as *A. heuristics. B. algorithms. C. prototypes. D. cognitive maps. % Correct: 80.90 Comments: This was essentially a definition question. Though this is not the definition of a heuristic, it is the goal of the user when they engage in one. Heuristics are problem solving techniques used that shrink the problem space, which allows for quicker responses to problems. The shortcomings of these heuristics are that they don’t always get us to a correct response—and that they can often be imperfect even if a response to a problem is reached. 19. The fact that people perceive the coin flip outcome of “HTTHHT” as more likely than “TTTTTTT” relates to the ____________. *A. representativeness heuristic B. availability heuristic C. base-rate effect D. availability algorithm % Correct: 64.22 Comments: This is a very commonly referenced example of the representativeness heuristic. This heuristic states that we think things are more likely when they seem like they are something we SHOULD see. In this example, since it is often seen as odd that someone would get all tails, we think that the random combination of HTTHHT must be more likely—though both are actually going to occur only an average of 1 in 128 times that 6 coins are flipped. 20. Which of the following is an example of the framing effect? A. When you view words in different colors, it is hard to say just the colors. B. After paying attention to one stimulus, you might ignore something just after it. *C. People take more risk to prevent loss of lives than to save lives. D. You assume that if something looks and sounds like a duck, it probably is a duck. % Correct: 89.09 Comments: The framing effect suggests that when faced with multiple options, our decisions can be swayed by the way that the options are presented. Specifically, when given a risky decision that has losses and gains involved, we’re more likely to gamble when our attention is focused on the losses, and more likely to take the sure thing when our attention is focused on the gains. 21. Expert chess and average chess players look at a chess board for a few seconds and try to memorize the location of the chess pieces. Under what circumstances, if any, will the expert chess players show much better memory than the others? *A. only if the pieces are arranged in a familiar pattern that occurs in well-played games. B. only if the pieces are arranged in a difficult, unfamiliar pattern. C. under any and all circumstances. D. under no circumstances. % Correct: 90.90 Comments: This question relates to how our memories can be enhanced through familiarity. For expert chess players, their memory of the chessboard arrangement can be enhanced—but only if the arrangement of the pieces in a familiar order. In other words, their memory of the arrangement is only better if they are viewing an arrangement that would occur during a chess match. If the arrangement is random, there’s no difference between the groups. 22. The sentence "Never threaten someone with a chain saw" can mean at least two very different things. This sentence has one __________ and at least two __________. A. deep structure...surface structures *B. surface structure...deep structures C. transformational grammar...structural grammars D. structural grammar...transformational grammars % Correct: 79.81 Comments: This is a definition question from the language topic. Though the sentence is organized in just one way in the example (meaning it has just one surface structure), it can be interpreted in two ways. In one, someone is being told not to threaten others while also in the process of holding a chainsaw. In the other, someone is being told that it is not advisable to threaten another individual who happens to be holding a chainsaw. This means that the sentence has two possible deep structures. 23. In language research, each unit of meaning in a word is defined as a A. prototype. B. syntax. C. phoneme. *D. morpheme. % Correct: 92.66 Comments: This is a definition question. Prototypes have very little to do with language. Syntax refers to the meaning of a phrase. Phonemes are the basic sounds of a spoken language. The ones that contain meaning are morphemes. 24. The "word superiority effect" is the observation that on the average, *A. people recognize a letter within a familiar word more easily than a letter by itself. B. people remember an event better and longer if they can express it in words. C. people who have just seen one word will more easily recognize another, related word. D. people can find a word on a page more easily than the drawing of an object. % Correct: 97.27 Comments: This finding has been replicated across numerous mediums. In essence, to find the word superiority effect, participants are asked to verbally identify a letter flashed to them on a screen. Sometimes this letter is surrounded by symbols, other times it’s surrounded by random letters, and sometimes it’s surrounded by letters than make a word when combined with the test letter. This third grouping is always the grouping in which participants identify the test letter the fastest. 25. Mary is preparing for a midterm. Instead of considering a bunch of preparation options that might really help ensure that she earns an A on the midterm, she just decides to follow what her roommate in the class is doing to study for the exam. Her assumption is that this will at least ensure that she does the minimum that will be required to pass the class. This approach is defined as a __________ decision. A. maximizing B. minimizing *C. satisficing D. utility approach % Correct: 79.81 Comments: The only explanation that I can give for why this wasn’t a VERY easy question was that the word minimal appeared in the question—which is why several students answered B. Minimizers don’t really exist in decision making. When choosing options, we call people that choose the best option maximizers, and those that choose a quick option that should work satisficers. This is a prime example of a satisficing decision. 26. What evidence did Spearman cite to support his concept of a "g" factor in intelligence? A. Mean performance on IQ tests rises until age 14-20, and then begins to decline. B. Changes in the instructions can alter the mean performance of various groups. C. Mean performance on IQ tests has been rising from one generation to the next. *D. Most people who do well on one intellectual task do well on others tasks also. % Correct: 90.90 Comments: Spearman attempted to show that our intelligence displays across a wide variety of different skills can all be tied to one overarching level of intelligence. This theory of intelligence has been widely accepted by many intelligence test generators over the years. In reference to Spearman’s attempt to test his notion, he tried to confirm this by showing a high correlation amongst scores on a variety of different intelligence tests. 27. An advantage of Raven's Progressive Matrices is that it A. directly measures innate ability. *B. is fairer to people who do not speak English. C. provides separate scores for a number of specialized abilities. D. has higher reliability and validity than other IQ tests. % Correct: 90 Comments: The Raven’s Progressive Matrices attempt to measure intelligence in an atypical way. In them, people are asked to detect a pattern and deduce the next steps of the pattern through a variety of different mediums. The benefit of this test is that it is independent of language and cultural exposure/biases. 28. Someone with an IQ score of 130 is in the 98th percentile. This means he or she A. answered 130 questions correctly. B. answered 98 questions correctly. C. answered 98% of the questions correctly. *D. did better than 98% of the people his or her age who took the test. % Correct: 99.09 Comments: This was obviously a very easy question. The typical IQ test has an average of 100 with a standard deviation of 15. That means that an IQ score of 130 is two standard deviations above the population average. Being 2 SD’s above the average puts you in roughly the 98th percentile—which means your score is higher than 98% of the people that took the test. 29. Because of a phenomenon known as the Flynn effect, psychologists must periodically revise IQ tests and their scoring standards. If they did not revise them *A. the mean IQ score would rise by about 6 points every 10 years. B. the mean IQ score would decrease by about 6 points every 10 years. C. the difference in scores between males and females would steadily increase. D. psychologists administering the test would become bored and their scoring accuracy would decrease. % Correct: 93.63 Comments: The Flynn effect suggests that successive generations are continuing to perform better and better on intelligence tests. This means that if 18-year-olds today took an IQ test from 30 years ago, they would perform on average in a way that would have earned them a very high score if they were compared to 18-year-olds from that generation. Since the average IQ score for each generation needs to be 100 for standardization, the only way to make the average remain at 100 is to make the requirements for earning a score of 100 more rigorous. 30. According to the James-Lange theory, what is the order of events in an emotion? A. action...appraisal of the situation...feeling *B. appraisal of the situation...action...feeling C. appraisal of the situation...feeling...action D. feeling...appraisal of the situation...action % Correct: 53.21 Comments: The James-Lange theory of emotions was considered very controversial when it was first introduced decades ago. Before this theory, psychologists had often assumed that our emotions impacted the way our bodies reacted to a situation. Their theory suggested that our emotional experience only came AFTER we recognized a situation and acted on that situation. 31. A controversial issue among emotion researchers is whether people have a small number of "basic" emotions. One result cited as support for the idea of basic emotions is that *A. people throughout the world recognize the same facial expressions of emotion. B. each kind of emotion is associated with a distinct area of the brain. C. all the emotions of humans are also recognizable in nearly all other mammals. D. certain genetic mutations cause people to lose one emotion without affecting others. % Correct: 92.72 Comments: Several studies have been conducted to determine if 6 basic emotions (sadness, happiness, surprise, fear, anger, disgust) are innate emotions that we all experience and can identify in others. To test this, people have looked at facial expressions, neurological responses, and cultural overlaps. Time and time again, we’ve found that these emotions can be easily identified and expressed by individuals across a wide array of cultures. 32. Both Phineas Gage, an accident victim in 1848, and "Elliot," a later brain-surgery patient, showed only limited emotions following damage to the A. reticular formation. *B. prefrontal cortex. C. cerebellum. D. occipital lobe. % Correct: 93.63 Comments: The sad story of Phineas Gage (the individual that had an iron rod shot through the front of his scull) provided us with insight about how that portion of our brain is utilized. When Gage struggled mightily with emotion regulation, social interaction, planning, and other higher order cognitive activities, we concluded that our prefrontal cortex is critical for these cognitive activities. 33. In Freud's theory, "repression" is a possible cause of A. motivation. B. transference. *C. forgetting. D. sex drive. % Correct: 59.09 Comments: In Sigmund Freud’s psychodynamic theory, he suggested that our inability to cope with a trauma or accept a thought/belief/desire could cause us to engage in defense mechanisms. The most controversial mechanisms discussed by Freud was repression. In his work, Freud proposed that we could repress memories/ideas/etc. so much that we didn’t even realize that we had them at all. 34. Harry Harlow’s work on a need for intimacy stemmed from his research with A. children and their primary care giver. *B. monkeys. C. adults in long-term relationships. D. single adults. % Correct: 93.63 Comments: Harlow’s sad by telling research was with monkeys that he raised in a) isolation, b) cages where there were cloth or wire “mothers”, or c) communities amongst other monkey. From his studies, he concluded that primates seem to have an inherent need for some sort of physical and emotional intimacy when growing up. Moreover, he was able to show that if these monkeys did not receive this intimacy, there were long term psychological consequences. 35. Traits are considered part of the _____ in the B=f(P, E) equation discussed in the presentations. A. B B. f *C. P D. E % Correct: 85.45 Comments: This formula listed above can be translated into “behavior (B) is a function (f) of personality (P) and the environment (E).” Since traits are a part of our personality, they would be linked to the P portion of the equation. 36. What was the initial basis for identifying the “big five” personality traits? A. observations of behavior by children and adults in several cultures B. studies of the effects of several types of drugs on behavior *C. analysis of personality words in the English language D. examination of points of agreement among Freud, Jung, Adler, and other theorists % Correct: 74.31 Comments: The “big five” is considered by many to be one of the most scientifically generated concepts in the field of psychology. To generate these traits that are used to describe all individuals by looking at where they lie along their dimensions, researchers utilized a) the English dictionary, b) rules of language (synonyms and antonyms), and c) statistical analysis tools—the factor analysis being the primary tool that was used. 37. For extraversion and several other personality traits, how strong is the correlation between parents and their adopted children? And what conclusion do researchers draw? A. The correlation is nearly zero. Conclusion: Children imitate their parents’ personality. *B. The correlation is nearly zero. Conclusion: Children learn little by imitating their parents’ personality. C. The correlation is high. Conclusion: Children imitate their parents’ personality. D. The correlation is high. Conclusion: Children learn little by imitating their parents’ personality. % Correct: 71.81 Comments: Though many parents tend to assume that the personality of their children is a direct product of their own personality or interactions with their children, research attempting to verify this is spotty at best. With respect to the trait of extraversion, several studies have shown that the statistical overlap between parents and children on this trait is often very low. In fact, the low levels of overlap have led many to believe that early social interaction and learning through peers are much more critical players in the development of this trait. 38. The theory behind the Thematic Apperception Test is that the stories a person tells about an ambiguous picture will A. be more complicated or less complicated, depending on the person's intelligence. B. provide an outlet for long-suppressed creative urges. *C. describe what is really going on in the person's own life. D. be similar to the stories the person heard in early childhood. % Correct: 89.09 Comments: The TAT is considered a projective test of personality. In the TAT, test takers are shown a series of photographs and asked several questions relating to the past, present, and future of the event that they are viewing. The logic behind this test relies on the assumption that people will “project” their thoughts/emotions/experiences onto the individuals contained within the photographs. It’s worth nothing that TAT designers would suggest that personality can never be determined through just one photograph, but instead a trend amongst the responses to a series of photographs. 39. Which approach to personality is most successful at explaining gender roles? A. psychoanalysis B. the psychometric approach *C. the learning approach D. the trait approach % Correct: 53.63 Comments: Though all personality theories have taken a stab at the topic of gender and gender roles, only cognitive psychologists (the learning approach) have come up with a clear tie between their theory of personality development and gender roles. In their theory, they suggest that early social interactions play a large role in the development of a child’s concept of gender and gender roles. 40. Research would suggest that if you force yourself to frown for a considerable period of time, you will A. actually increase your happiness. B. not change your emotions as a result of this activity. C. be able to recover from sadness more quickly the next time that you experience it. *D. become sadder. % Correct: 99.09 Comments: This idea was highlighted in the closing story of the emotions lecture. Research has consistently shown that our emotions can indeed be impacted by the outward expressions that we display. This fact can actually be used to support the James-Lange theory of emotions mentioned in a previous question. 41. According to the bystander effect, the presence of many other people will decrease the probability that you will *A. help a person in distress. B. be influenced by group polarization. C. make internal attributions. D. make external attributions. % Correct: 94.54 Comments: The bystander effect examines the topic of conformity. However, unlike most conformity topics, this topic examines how we conform sometimes by NOT acting in a situation where we should act. The historical example tied to this concept is the story of Kitty Genovese. Kitty was fatally attacked in front of her apartment while several of her neighbors looked on in March of 1964. In what was considered an act of conformity, none of her neighbors took it upon themselves to intervene or help. For more specific details on this tragic story, please reference the class textbook. 42. According to the primacy effect in impression formation, what influences you most? A. the most unusual thing you learn about someone B. the most recent thing you have learned about someone *C. the first thing you learn about someone D. the most favorable thing you learn about someone % Correct: 96.36 Comments: The primacy effect—a concept that is actually present in both cognitive and social psychology—suggests that the information that we are presented first is the information that we retain the most. For social psychologists, it means that the first bits of information that we learn about a person carry more weight than all of the additional information that we acquire about them. 43. Which of these is an example of an external attribution? A. He took the newspaper job because he likes writing. *B. He took the newspaper job because it was the only job available. C. He took the newspaper job because he is interested in current events. D. He took the newspaper job because he wants a career in journalism. % Correct: 97.27 Comments: In attribution theory, researchers attempt to determine how we explain the actions of another or ourselves. External attributions are explanations for actions that focus on the social context surrounding the action. When making an external attribution, personality/desires/emotions are often discounted when explaining the causes for an action. 44. Experiments on cognitive dissonance suggest that A. to change people's behavior, it is necessary to change their attitudes first. B. intelligent people are less likely than others are to be creative thinkers. C. intelligent people are more likely than others are to be creative thinkers. *D. it is possible to change people's attitudes by changing their behavior first. % Correct: 63.63 Comments: Leon Festinger was one of the first psychologists to introduce us to this concept of cognitive dissonance. In essence, cognitive dissonance is the experience that we go through when our actions don’t match our emotions/desires/cognitions. Festinger and others have shown that this experience of cognitive dissonance can actually cause individuals to change their emotions/desires/cognitions when the cannot chance their actions. 45. The “mere exposure” effect in social psychology DISAGREES with which of these sayings? A. Birds of a feather flock together. B. A penny saved is a penny earned. *C. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. D. Out of sight, out of mind. % Correct: 77.27 Comments: The “mere exposure” effect is a term tied to the topic of attraction. It suggests that greater familiarity with someone/something makes us like/value that thing more. This idea contradicts the statement in answer C. In essence, absence should make the heart grow less fond. 46. According to Asch's studies of conformity *A. the tendency to conform to a group of three is as large as it is with larger groups. B. it is just as easy to resist when you are a minority of one as when you have an ally. C. people who conformed always claimed that their perceptions had been distorted. D. people do not conform on questions where there is an objective right and wrong. % Correct: 76.36 Comments: Solomon Asch studied the topic of conformity by having participants judge the length of lines while they were unknowingly placed amongst confederates of the researcher giving incorrect responses. From his study, he was able to deduce a lot about the topic of conformity. For starters, he was able to show that many of us will conform to a group, even when we know that the group is wrong. Follow-ups of his research showed us that there were several factors that could increase/decrease conformity levels of individuals in his experiment. Answer “A” is a statement that has been derived from one of these follow-up studies. 47. In contrast to the United States and other Western countries, the cultures of China and other Asian countries are often described as more A. universalist B. fundamentalist C. individualist *D. collectivist % Correct: 90 Comments: In cultural psychology, the Western/European and East Asian contrast has become a common topic of research. Cultural psychologists have looked at topics like social perception, conformity, communication, self-descriptions, and several other areas when comparing individuals from the two groups. In the US and Europe (Western cultures), people are described as individualists. In Asian countries (Eastern cultures) individuals are described as collectivists. 48. In the Milgram experiment, the teacher heard the learner beg for the experiment to stop at 150 volts, scream in agony at 270 volts, refuse to answer any more questions at 300 volts, and stop making any sound at all at 330 volts. Of the 40 participants, how many teachers were fully obedient and delivered shocks all the way to 450 volts? A. none B. only a few *C. more than half D. all % Correct: 87.27 Comments: Stanley Milgram’s experiment on obedience is considered one of the most memorable experiments in the history of psychology. In it, he wanted to see how people conform to authority figures. He also wanted to see how many would go to very dangerous lengths to do so. Though he expected less than 1 percent of his participants to go to the “end” of his original experiment, nearly ½ of the participants in the study went to the “end”. This discovery forced us to question many of our beliefs about the power of the situation—it also earned Milgram both fame and scorn from the research community. 49. The group polarization effect refers to the fact that A. a group that is composed of people with widely differing opinions tends to shift most of them toward a moderate position. B. people with opposite personalities find each other attractive. C. groups that discuss an issue tend to split into opposite, hostile camps. *D. after a group discusses an issue it tends to shift toward a more extreme opinion. % Correct: 95.45 Comments: The group polarization effect can be applied when looking at how individuals within a group might have their opinions impacted by the presence of the group. Research on this topic has suggested that mixed opinioned groups don’t often see dramatic shifts in the average opinion of a group member just because a group was formed. In essence, group membership doesn’t impact opinions much for individuals in these situations. However, when a group gets together with a similar mindset, the opinions of the individuals often can become even more pronounced once these opinions of the group members are expressed to the group. 50. In motivation theory, money would be considered a _________ motivator. A. primary *B. secondary C. complex D. simple % Correct: 80 Comments: This question was referencing the topic of motivators. In motivation research, there are many different terms applied to the various types of motivators that exist. This question is asking about the difference between primary and secondary motivators. Since money is desirable only because of the things that you can buy with it (food, entertainment, etc.), money is defined as a secondary motivator.