Herd Mentality Article: Main Idea and Other Important Stuff

Herd Mentality: Main Idea and Other Important Stuff

By Melinda Gadams

Open Ended

Imagine you walk by a shoe store and you see many people lined up for hours to get the newest pair of shoes. Do you think these people are following the crowd or thinking for themselves? Explain your answer.

Multiple Choice

According to the 'Herd Mentality' article, what is herd behavior?

• It's when groups rationally make decisions together.

• It's when individuals make foolish decisions.

• It's when individuals break away from a group.

• It’s when people blindly follow the decisions of a group.

Multiple Select

"The term also applies to human behavior, and it usually describes large numbers of people acting the same way at the same time. It often has a connotation of irrationality, as people’s actions are driven by emotion rather than by thinking through a situation." In this quote, which words help explain what "connotation of irrationality" means?

• Driven by emotion

• rather than thinking

• applies to human behavior

• through a situation

Multiple Choice

what would be an example of herd behavior in humans based on the explanation in the previous slide?

• large crowd running in a marathon

• an audience at a movie theater

• a large stampede during an earthquake

• a long line at the grocery story

Multiple Choice

Which of these options means that humans may become violent with each other when panicing?

• move faster than normal

• copy the actions of others

• interact physically with each other

•  ignore alternative strategies in favor of following the mass escape trend

Open Ended

What do you think is meant by the phrase, "greed drives mass buying frenzies"?

Multiple Choice

The dictionary includes two definitions for embolden. Which is the best definition of the word in this context?

• give (someone) the courage or confidence to do something or to behave in a certain way.

• cause (a piece of text) to appear in a bold typeface.

  "center, embolden, and underline the heading"

Multiple Select

Which words help us to understand the meaning of the word "hooliganism?"

• Overzealous

• destructive

• initimidating

• well-known

Multiple Choice

Hitler effectively used "group mind" by...

• planting officers to influence more people in the crowds to cheer.

• starting riots at events hosted by those who opposed him.

• supporting a popular sports team to gain more followers.

• commanding his officers to force people to watch his speeches.

Multiple Choice

In the sentence, "Adolf Hitler purposefully took advantage of herd behavior psychology by planting a significant number of undercover German officers in the crowds at his speeches". the best definition of planting is,

• send (someone) to join a group or organization to act as a spy or informer.

• secretly place (a bomb that is set to go off at a later time

• place a seed, bulb, or plant in (a place) to grow

• put or hide (something) among someone's belongings to compromise or incriminate the owner.

Multiple Choice

According to the 'Everday Desicion-making" paragraph, what is one positive effect of herd behavior?

• People can get good deals on sales.

• People can avoid natural disasters.

• People can be led towards making good choices.

• People can win football games.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best summarizes the central (main) idea of the text?

• Even when acting alone, humans are not as advanced as we would like to think.

• Herd behavior suggests that there are limits to human beings’ free will.

• The actions of a large group can greatly influence an individual’s decisions.

• Crowds always become violent and chaotic when individuals begin to panic.

Multiple Choice

Which best supports the main idea?

• “All of the animals band closely together in a group and, in panic mode, move together as a unit” (Paragraph 1)

• “Herd behavior in humans is frequently observed at times of danger and panic; for example, a fire in a building” (Paragraph 3)

• “When herd behavior sets in, an individual person’s judgment and opinion forming process shut down” (Paragraph 2)

• “suppose that a family is walking down the street looking for a restaurant to have dinner” (Paragraph 8)