Unit 2 Psychology - Chpt 6 - Social Cognition

The statement All obese people eat too much’ is an example of

• prejudice.
• discrimination.
• stereotyping.
• person perception.

Which of the following characteristics is most likely to have the greatest influence on a first impression when meeting someone?

• the person’s physical appearance
• the person’s friends
• the person’s cognitive biases
• the person’s expectations

Attribution theory generally explains why people

• act the way they do.
• form impressions of themselves and others.
• perceive others as they do.
• perceive themselves and others as they do.

The fundamental attribution error is best described as our tendency to

• think with cognitive bias.
• make a basic mistake in person perception.
• overestimate the importance of situational factors in judging our behaviour.
• overestimate the importance of internal factors and underestimate the importance of external factors in judging someone else’s behaviour.

The relationship between behaviour and attitudes tends to be

• direct.
• consistent.
• inconsistent.
• dissonant.

Lucio lacks empathy for ‘boat’ people who are kept in detention for many years. He believes everyone has opportunities in life but ‘these boat people deserve their fate because they chose to arrive on a boat’. Lucio’s assumption about refugees and asylum seekers who reach Australia by boat is best explained by

• the just-world belief.
• the misinformation effect.
• actor–observer bias.
• functional-fixedness.

Self-serving bias refers to a person’s tendency to attribute their successes to _____ and their failures to _____.

• an actor; an observer
• an observer; an actor
• internal factors; external factors
• external factors; internal factors

Which of the following behaviours best indicates old-fashioned prejudice?

• making negative comments to a friend about the sexual preferences assumed to be true of a male nurse
• being unconcerned about the appointment of a female to a position not traditionally held by females
• publicly expressing a view that all people should have equal rights
• publicly expressing a view that all people should have equal rights, but privately being against equal rights for all people

Which of the following statements best describes discrimination?

• Discrimination involves positive action to support someone in a minority group.
• Discrimination involves negative action against someone in a minority group.
• Discrimination involves either positive or negative action towards someone in a minority group.
• Discrimination involves stereotyping all individuals in a minority group whilst overlooking individual differences.

When two rival groups have equality of status, then prejudice

• is difficult to reduce.
• is easier to reduce.
• will probably result in discrimination.
• will probably result in intergroup conflict.