Social Thinking

Ms. Dearmin's students did very poorly on the last exam. The tendency to make the fundamental attribution error might lead her to conclude that the class did poorly because

• the test was unfair

• not enough time was given for students to complete the test

• students were distracted by using their personal devices in class

• students were unmotivated

Which of the following is an example of the foot in the door phenomenon?

• To persuade a customer to buy a product, a store owner offers a small gift.

• After agreeing to wear a small "Enforce Recycling" lapel pin, a woman agrees to collect signatures on a petition to make recycling required by law.

• After offering to sell a car at a ridiculously low price, a car salesperson is forced to tell the customer the car will cost $1000 more.

• Nola wants to be an actress and sends her head shots and resumes to all the talent agencies in New York, so she can get her foot in the door.

Which of the following situations should produce the GREATEST cognitive dissonance?

• A soldier is forced to carry out orders she finds disagreeable.

• Georgina must rob a bank or her family will be executed.

• A student volunteers to debate an issue, taking the side she personally disagrees with.

• After a crash landing, a vegetarian must kill and eat a mouse to survive.

Before she gave a class presentation promoting gun control legislation, Delphine opposed any kind of infringement on the second amendment. Now she is leaning towards supporting implementation of gun control measures. What best explains her change of convictions?

• attribution theory

• cognitive dissonance theory

• incentive theory

• reinforcement theory

According to the cognitive dissonance theory, dissonance is most likely to occur when

• a person's behavior is not based on strongly-held attitudes

• two people have conflicting attitudes and find themselves in disagreement

• an individual does something that is personally disagreeable

• an individual is forced to do something that they do not want to do

Which of the following is true?

• Attitudes and actions rarely correspond.

• Attitudes predict behavior about half the time.

• Attitudes are excellent predictors of behavior.

• Attitudes predict behavior under certain conditions.

Which of the following describes how we explain others' behavior as being due to internal dispositions or external situations?

• attribution theory

• central route persuasion

• peripheral route persuasion

• cognitive dissonance theory

Becky believes that students who study are dorks. However, she has just studied 5 hours for her AP Psychology exam. (High-Five Becky!) Without thinking about it, Becky has changed her view about students who study; they are no longer dorks. Becky's change is best explained by

• cognitive dissonance theory

• rationalization

• self-disclosure

• persuasive conformity

Driving to school one snowy day, Maria narrowly misses a car that slides through a red light. "Slow down! What a terrible driver," she screams at the car. Moments later, Maria slips through an intersection and yelps, "Wow! These roads are awful. The city plows need to get out here." What social psychology principle has Maria just demonstrated?

• fundamental attribution error

• attribution theory

• cognitive dissonance theory

• central route persuasion

Ricky Bobby's commercial for maxi-pads is a great example of

• peripheral route persuasion

• central route persuasion

• cognitive dissonance theory

• attribution theory