Exam 1 Review

What is group polarization?

• Group polarization is the process where group members always reach a consensus without any disagreements.
• Group polarization is the tendency for individuals to become less extreme in their views after group discussion.
• Group polarization is the phenomenon where individuals in a group tend to make less informed decisions.
• Group polarization is the phenomenon where individuals in a group tend to make more extreme decisions or hold more extreme views after group discussion compared to their initial individual views.

Answer explanation

Group polarization refers to the phenomenon where the attitudes or opinions of individuals within a group become more extreme or polarized after discussing a topic or issue with like-minded others. In other words, when people with similar views gather in a group and discuss a particular topic, their initial attitudes tend to become more extreme or exaggerated in the direction they were already inclined.

Milgram studied this phenomenon where subjects shocked a (fake) partner with increasing voltages of electricity.

• Obedience

• Conformity

• Rebellion against authority
• Bias

Answer explanation

Milgram Obedience Experiment: Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment in the 1960s to study obedience to authority. In this experiment, participants ("teachers") were instructed to administer electric shocks to a "learner" (an actor) whenever the learner gave a wrong answer to a memory task. The shocks were fake, but the teachers believed they were real. With each wrong answer, the shock level increased. The learner would pretend to be in pain, and the experimenter (authority figure) would pressure the teacher to continue administering shocks, despite the learner's apparent distress.

Findings: The experiment revealed that a significant number of participants were willing to administer increasingly severe shocks, obeying the authority figure's instructions even when they were uncomfortable doing so, demonstrating the powerful influence of authority on obedience.

Solomon Asch studied this phenomenon to determine to what extent social forces alter people's opinions.

• obedience
• compliance
• conformity
• independence

Answer explanation

Solomon Asch conducted a series of experiments in the 1950s to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could influence a person to conform. In his study, participants were asked to match the length of a line on one card to one of three lines on another card.

Procedure:

• The participant was placed in a room with several actors (who were in on the experiment) pretending to be other participants.

• The actors were instructed to give the same incorrect answer on certain trials.

• The real participant, usually seated near the end of the row, had to state their answer after hearing the actors' incorrect answers.

Findings: The results showed that a significant number of participants conformed to the group's incorrect answer, despite knowing it was wrong, demonstrating the powerful influence of social pressure on individual opinions.

This effect became a hot topic in social psychology after the murder of Kitty Genovese in Queens.

• Observer bias
• Bystander effect
• Diffusion effect
• Crowd mentality

Answer explanation

The murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964 in Queens sparked significant interest in the bystander effect in social psychology. The bystander effect describes how individuals are less likely to help a victim when other people are present.

Research shows that the presence of others can lead to a diffusion of responsibility, where each person assumes someone else will take action, thereby decreasing the likelihood that anyone will help.

Philip Zimbardo used this term to explain how situational factors can lead individuals to commit acts outside of their usual norms.

• outgroup homogeneity

• deindividuation

• confirmation bias

• conformity

Answer explanation

In his Stanford prison experiment, Zimbardo illustrated that when individuals are placed in certain roles or environments that diminish their sense of personal identity and accountability, they may engage in behaviors they wouldn't typically consider.

Deindividuation occurs when people feel anonymous and less accountable for their actions, leading to a loss of self-awareness and a higher likelihood of engaging in uncharacteristic or harmful behaviors.

The human tendency to seek evidence that supports our own beliefs and dismiss evidence that contradicts those beliefs.

• Confirmation bias
• Validation bias
• Affirmation bias
• Selective bias

Answer explanation

Confirmation bias is the human tendency to seek, interpret, and remember information that confirms one's preexisting beliefs and to dismiss or undervalue information that contradicts those beliefs.

This bias affects how people gather and evaluate evidence, often leading to reinforcing existing beliefs and ignoring contradictory data, which can skew decision-making and perception of reality.

The tendency for people to continue to hold their beliefs even when they have been shown to be wrong.

• Denial bias
• Selective bias
• Belief perseverance

• Belief persistence

Answer explanation

Belief perseverance is the tendency for people to continue to hold onto their beliefs even when they have been shown to be wrong.

This cognitive bias means that individuals often resist changing their beliefs despite encountering evidence that contradicts them, leading to the persistence of inaccurate or unfounded views.

This branch of I-O psychology mainly deals with testing and measuring individuals in workplaces.

• Industrial Psychology
• Organizational Health Psychology

• Clinical Psychology
• Organizational Psychology

Answer explanation

Industrial psychology, or the "I" side of I-O psychology, focuses on understanding human behavior in the workplace.

Key Areas:

1. Employee Selection: Matching individuals with suitable jobs.

2. Training and Development: Enhancing job-related skills.

3. Performance Appraisal: Assessing and improving employee performance.

The primary aim of this branch of psychology is the prevention of illness or injury by creating safe and healthy work environments.

• Developmental Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Occupational Health Psychology

Answer explanation

The primary aim of occupational health psychology is to prevent illness or injury by creating safe and healthy work environments.

Key Focus Areas:

1. Stress Management: Identifying and addressing workplace stressors to reduce the risk of physical and mental health problems.

2. Workplace Safety: Promoting safe work practices and minimizing occupational hazards to prevent accidents and injuries.

3. Employee Well-being: Enhancing employee well-being through interventions that promote work-life balance, job satisfaction, and psychological health.

4. Health Promotion: Implementing programs to encourage healthy behaviors, such as exercise, nutrition, and stress reduction, among employees.

5. Organizational Policies: Developing and implementing policies and procedures that prioritize employee health and safety.

This theory proposes that when job demands are high and job resources are low, stress and burnout increase.

• Job Demands-Resources model
• Demand-Resource model
• Resource-Demands theory
• Job Stress-Resources model

Answer explanation

The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model proposes that when job demands are high and job resources are low, stress and burnout increase among employees.

Key Components:

1. Job Demands: These refer to the physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of a job that require sustained physical or mental effort and are associated with certain physiological or psychological costs.

2. Job Resources: These are the physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of a job that help employees achieve work goals, reduce job demands, and stimulate personal growth and development.