Why Do People Follow the Crowd

What is meant by the word "gustatory" as it is used in paragraph 19 of the first passage?

• acting strangely

• related to eating

• being reserved and polite

• following what others do

What is the relationship between the people who participated in the Primetime experiments and the Germans who followed Adolf Hitler?

• Both groups illustrate how following the crowd can benefit society.

• Both groups show that people's actions are controlled by their need to fit in.

• Both groups reveal that people cannot be held responsible for following the crowd.

• Both groups demonstrate that some people never resist and do what they think is right.

Which piece of evidence supports the idea that some people can resist "the fear of standing alone"?

• "When the group gave the right answer, Tony agreed. And when everyone gave the wrong answer — Tony still agreed." (Paragraph 8)

• "'I wanted to go with what I felt was the correct answer, and trust myself, and that's what I did,' Graham said." (Paragraph 14)

• "One woman at the table said: 'I think the majority of people will look to see what others are doing and follow their example.'" (Paragraph 21)

• "Their brains lit up in a place called the amygdala, which Berns calls 'the fear center of the brain.'" (Paragraph 28)

Which of the following best describes a central idea of the first passage?

• The desire to fit in makes people display bizarre behavior at restaurants.

• People become embarrassed when it is revealed that they copy others' behaviors.

• Experiments reveal that human behavior is greatly influenced by humans' desire to fit in.

• The Nazis used behavioral experiments to trick German citizens into following immoral laws.

Select three sentences that belong in an objective summary of the first passage.

• In one experiment, participants changed their answers to match the group's, even when the group was wrong, highlighting the strong influence of social conformity.

• Mangos can be fun to eat, especially when you eat them in ways that don't conform to social norms.

• Berns' research suggests that conformity can distort our perceptions and is driven by a fear of standing alone.

• Another experiment in a social setting showed people mimicking outlandish behavior at a dinner party.

• fMRI machines are capable to capturing some remarkable data about the human brain.

What was the effect of peer pressure on students in non-honors classes according to the NPR article?

• They were less likely to sign up for SAT prep courses

• They were more likely to sign up for SAT prep courses

• Students were unaffected by peer pressure

• Students were more likely to excel academically.

Which of the following best summarizes how the results of the free SAT prep course experiment support the article's main argument?

• These results support the argument that students are more likely to conform to what they expect of them, regardless if the choice is made privately or publicly.

• These results support the argument that students are more likely to agree with their peers in order to win their approval and become popular.

• These results support the claim that students are less likely to adhere to their surrounding social group when the choice was made private.

• These results support the claim that students are more likely to adhere to their surrounding social group when the choice was made public.

Drawing from the text, what is the most conclusive solution offered to regulate, if not solve, this problem of peer pressure?

• Students should be given choices in how to respond in class.

• Parents and teachers should emphasize that their children/students should not care about popularity.

• Adults (teachers, parents, etc.) should be mindful about how they present choices to students, being aware of the presence of others and student privacy.

• Students should never be allowed to respond to questions or opportunities privately.

Which of the following best describes a central idea of the second passage?

• Students are susceptible to all sorts of outside influences.

• Students, teenagers especially, always desire the approval of their peers, whether consciously or unconsciously.

• The pressure to conform or 'be popular' with one's peers may negatively affect their choices in education.

• It is considered undesirable, or 'uncool', to want to better oneself in school, and therefore many students conform to this idea in order to gain popularity.

What does the term "ostracized" most closely mean, as used in paragraph 20?

• excluded

• tormented

• outperformed

• ignored