Sociocultural Psychology Quiz

What is one of the key assumptions of the sociocultural approach?

• Human behavior is only influenced by genetics

• People are social animals with a basic need to belong

• Culture has no effect on behavior

• Individuals act completely independently of group influence

In Asch’s (1956) conformity study, what was the dependent variable?

• The number of confederates

• The length of the lines shown

• Whether or not the participant conformed

• The total number of trials conducted

What term describes the influence of social groups on an individual's behavior, where people conform to fit in?

• Informational social influence

• Normative social influence

• Cognitive dissonance

• Social categorization

What happened when one confederate in Asch’s study dissented and gave the correct answer?

• The conformity rate increased

• The study ended early

• The conformity rate decreased significantly

• Participants refused to complete the experiment

What is the primary advantage of qualitative research methods in sociocultural psychology?

• They allow for the manipulation of variables to establish causation

• They provide richer, more detailed data about participants’ experiences

• They are quicker to conduct than experiments

• They are easier to analyze statistically

Which research method did Festinger et al. (1956) use in their study of a doomsday cult?

• Lab experiment

• Overt naturalistic observation

• Covert participant observation

• Longitudinal survey

What is one ethical concern related to covert participant observations?

• The studies are too easy to replicate

• Participants are deceived and cannot give informed consent

• They provide biased data

• They cannot be used in sociocultural psychology

What was the main finding of Festinger et al.'s study?

• People who follow cults are irrational

• When beliefs are challenged, people often modify them to reduce cognitive dissonance

• The members abandoned their cult beliefs immediately after the prophecy failed

• Social identity theory does not apply to cults

What is a key claim of Social Identity Theory?

• People have only one stable identity

• Social identity is determined solely by genetics

• People categorize themselves into groups, which affects their self-esteem

• In-group favoritism is only seen in competitive situations

What is one criticism of Tajfel’s (1971) minimal group experiment?

• The task was too realistic and difficult to replicate

• The participants were all adults, making the results inapplicable to children

• The experiment lacked ecological validity since it was highly artificial

• The results showed that people never discriminate against out-groups