Social Psychology

While walking through an airport, a well-dressed lady walks up to you and pins a flower on your shirt, saying "I'd like you to have this flower on behalf of the Brotherhood of Friends. Would you like to make a donation to our cause?" This lady is attempting to use the _____________ to get your money.

• foot-in-the-door technique

• that's-not-all technique

• norm of reciprocity

• lowball technique

Which statement correctly characterizes one aspect of Stanley Milgram's study of obedience?

• Subjects were shown an ominous-looking shock machine that was marked 0 to 450 volts.

• Participants in the study were randomly assigned to be teachers or learners.

• Participants were shocked when they made errors in reciting word pairs.

• A learner and the teacher sat side by side across from the shock machine.

Kwan really doesn't feel like riding the stationary bicycle today, but he doesn't want the people around him to think he is a slacker. If he decides to continue exercising, what concept might explain his actions?

• social loafing

• social idleness

• social facilitation

• social productivity

During the finals of the National Basketball Association (NBA) LeBron James misses a foul shot to give his team the lead with 10 seconds left in the game. Even though LeBron usually makes those shots during practice, he missed it at a crucial time. Why do you think this might have happened?

• social loafing

• diffusion of responsibility

• social facilitation

• social impairment

People who exert less effort on a task when working in a group than they do when working individually are engaging in ___________.

• groupthink

• social loafing

• social conformity

• malingering

A local car insurance company advertises their products with television commercials. During those spots, there are flashy lights, attractive dancers wearing skin-tight outfits, and local celebrities talking about how they have that company's insurance. The advertisement does not, however, mention any of the features or costs associated with the product. This company is attempting to earn customers through which path of processing?

• central-route

• tertiary-route

• secondary-route

• peripheral-route

The advice to "keep it simple stupid" suggests that political and other messages should be simple so that the audience will understand the content without distractions. This is an example of which type of processing suggested by the elaboration likelihood model?

• under-route processing

• peripheral-route processing

• central-route processing

• classic-route processing

A state of tension that occurs when a person's attitudes do not match the person's actions is called __________.

• cognitive dissonance

• the validity effect

• the fundamental attribution error

• routinization

When we make situational attributions we are identifying the cause of an action as something _____.

• in the environment

• in the person's disposition

• that is a biological trait

• with an unconscious motivation

Which statement is the best explanation of the fundamental attribution error?

• We attribute most of what people do to the influence of situations.

• We rely on the first information we receive to make internal attributions.

• We are more likely to attribute another's behavior to internal rather than to situational causes.

• We tend to attribute our successes to our own efforts and failures to the shortcomings of others.