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SOCIAL PSYCH EXAM 1 ANSWERS SUMMER 2002
CHAPTER ONE: Introduction to Social
Psychology AND CHAPTER TWO:
Research Methodology
1. [1 pt]. Kathryn plans on
earning a Masters or Doctoral degree in Social Psychology. What are two possible
career paths Kathryn could pursue? Be specific in explaining how a background
in social psychology could help her perform particular duties. In addition to
the brief information described in Chp 1 of your Course Companion, you are also
encouraged to search on the Internet for social psychology related job
announcements.
Answers will vary ; possible answers are
Campaign advisor-
Be able to research social interests that the public wants the politician to
focus on. Also know how to sway public opinion toward your candidate—provide
suggestions for public appearance and interacting with others.
Poll conducter- be
able to interpret public opinions, know what issues are most important to the
voters, etc.
2. [7pts] Read one of the following articles (found in
the Reserve Section of Michener Library):
a) What You
Expect Is What You Get, b) Obey at Any Cost, or c) To Help or Not to Help.
On a separate
piece of paper: a) Identify at least
one Independent Variable (IV) and explain why it is an IV, b) Identify at least one Dependent Variable (DV) that corresponds
to the IV you chose to identify and explain why it is a DV, c) Identify 2-3 ethical concerns
pertaining to the main study or any substudies discussed in the article in you
read (Note: ethical issues may or may
not be directly stated in the article. Elaborate on why the issues you chose to
identify do indeed present an "ethical" dilemma. Answer on a separate
piece of paper. Answers will vary; review the articles. The
following is an example for the Obey At Any Cost article:
a) Independent
Variable
·
This
what the experimenter, Stanley Milgram, controlled. ONE CONDITION: The
condition of 40 males between the ages of 20 and 50 being commanded by a
“Researcher” in a white lab coat (denoting authority) to deliver shocks to the
“Learner-Confederate.” There was no control group.
·
In
subsequent experiments Milgram controlled for the participants being women in
one case and college students in another. Again no control group was used,
there was only one condition.
·
In subsequent
experiments Milgram varied the situational conditions that may have influenced
obedience. So now instead of just looking at males, females, and college
students, he looked at variables that had more than one level of variation. He
investigated the effects of varying:
o
teacher-learner
proximity {the greater the distance the more the participants obeyed}
o
teacher-researcher
in white lab coat proximity {the closer the teacher was to the researcher the
more he/she obeyed}
o
teacher
was given a choice of following orders or deciding on their own, which level of
shock to stop at—this would have been a good control condition to use in the
original experiment.
b) Dependent
Variable
·
This
is the variable that experimenters have NO control over; the DV is what they
measure.
·
Level
of shock administered, which represented the degree to which the
Teacher-Participant was obedient or defiant
c) Ethical
concerns for the Obey at Any Cost article.
·
unacceptable
levels of stress
·
potential
for lasting effects of stress
·
when
using deception in an experiment, the participants may later feel used,
embarrassed, and distrustful of psychologists in general—perhaps contaminating
future participant opportunities.
·
distrustful
of legitimate authority figures they will encounter in their lives.
·
participants
weren’t informed that possible deceptive tactics would be used.
3. Kristi wants to study
college students' attitudes toward birth control. What does she need to do
before she can begin collecting data? HINT:
See pages 52-53 in your textbook.
a. Get approval from the Dean of students
b. Attend a
hearing conducted by student government
c. Get approval from a university's
Institutional Review Board
d. Obtain a
signature from the current chairperson of the psychology department
4. [2 pts] Jon wants to investigate whether or
not the variable, TV watching and the variable, violent behavior are related.
Answer all three parts:
a) (.5 pt) Is
Jon reasonably expecting the two variables to be negatively or positively
correlated? Positively correlated (as TV watching
increases, violent behavior increases).
b) (.5 pt) State
the null (Ho) and alternative (H1) hypotheses.
Ho: the two
variables (TV watching and violent behavior) are not related.
H1: TV watching
and violent behavior are related.
c) (1 pt) If Jon
finds that the two variables, TV watching and violent behavior, are correlated
there could be three possible causal relationships (Which is why we do NOT
determine cause and effect with a correlational research design—additional experimental
investigations would need to take place). What are the three possible causal
relationships with regard to this particular example?
1) Children who
watch TV become more violent.
2) Children who
are already violent watch more TV, and
3) TV watching and
violent behavior are caused by a third variable (ex-parental negligence).
ANSWER BOTH PART A AND PART B correctly for Question
5 for credit
5. In an attempt to dye his
hair blonde Aaron's hair accidentally turned sunset orange. This serendipitous
event led Aaron to see whether blondes or orange-heads have more fun. He
recruited volunteers of all hair colors who were willing to dye their hair
either blonde or orange by flipping a coin. He then gave them a questionnaire
that assessed how much fun they perceived themselves as having over a two month
period.
serendipitous: an
accidental fortunate discovery
Part A. State the null
(Ho) hypothesis.
a. Blondes will have more
fun than orange-heads.
b. Orange-heads will have
more fun than blondes.
c.
There's a significant difference of fun perceptions between blondes and
orange-heads.
d. There's no significant difference of fun
perceptions between blondes and orange-heads.
Part B. What's the
independent variable (IV) ; what's the
dependent variable (DV)?
a. volunteers ;
Aaron the researcher b. hair color ; perceptions of fun
c. Aaron the
researcher ; volunteers d. perceptions of fun ; hair
color
6. Which of the
following are essential for employing an experimental research design?
I consenting volunteers II researcher control
III random assignment IV a population
V a research grant
a. I and V b. IV and V c. II and III d.
III and IV
CHOICE:
ANSWER EITHER #7 OR #8
7. [2 pts] Ross
and Samuels (1993) conducted a study in which they recruited
a) (.5 pt) What is the
Independent Variable? IV- The name of the game that the
participants were told that they were playing.
b) (.5 pt) What is the
Dependent Variable? DV- degree to which participants
behave competetively.
c) (1 pt) Referring to the concept,
“Randomization” how would Ross and Samuels ensure that their study’s integrity
wasn’t tainted by some people having really competitive personalities or really
cooperative personalities? By randomly assigning
participants each group will have a 50/50 chance of the two types of
personalities. this should keep the study from becoming tainted by this
variable. Recall tt "Random Assignment" to a condition: the
researchers randomly select each participant to one of the two groups, with
every participant having an equal probilitiy of being in either group.
8. [2 pts] Design your own
quasi-experimental social psychological research design. Why is it a
quasi-experimental design? Possible answer: If it is a quasi-experimental design it
means that random assignment of research participants to the various conditions
is not possible.
Experiment:
Treatment in the work place for female nurses in an environment in which doctors' gender is varied.
IV- workplace
environment: Group 1—predominantly male doctors ; Group 2—equal #s of female
and male doctors
DV- treatment of nurses.
CHAPTER THREE: Social Cognition—How We Think About the
Social World
9. [2 pts] Provide two
reasons why social psychologists are interested in social cognition.
Social cognition
deals with how people select, interpret, remember, and use social information
to make judgements and decisions. Social psychologists are interested in
mental processes because human interaction is significantly influenced by how
we think about our social world and how social interactions influence our
thought processes. Our social judgments are a mix of observation and expectation,
reason, and passion. When we encode new
info we convolute it, distort it, stretch it, compact it, etc. to fit w/ our
prior blfs.There's an objective reality out there, but we view it through a
window of our beliefs, attitudes, and values.
10. Joe was a Prisoner of
War (POW) in a communist country. He and his fellow American prisoners were
forced to write essays about how communism is a superior governmental ideology. After being released and
returned to American soil, the soldiers were questioned about their beliefs and
feelings regarding communism. Their responses were in a much more positive
direction compared to military assessments they had to take prior to their
military training. This is an example of?
*Definition
of ideology: the study of ideas; the doctrines, opinions, or way of thinking of
an individual, class, etc.; the body of ideas on which a particular political,
economic, or social system is based.
a. Reconstructing past attitudes b.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
c.
Reconstructing past behavior d. Automatic thinking
11. [2 pts] What
are two benefits of schemas and what are two disadvantages of schemas?
Schemas: mental structures people use to organize
their knowledge abt the soc world around themes or subjects & tt influence
the info ppl notice, think abt, & remember.
Benefits: aid in memory recall; allow us to process
info swiftly and with little mental effort; helps us prepare for the future by
structuring our expectations; reduces ambiguity when faced with info tt can be
interpreted in a # of ways.
Disadvantages: results in an increase in errors and
biases; can lead to stereotyping and oversimplifying; they can be misleading;
can lead to erroneous assumptions about other people and situations; results in
inflexible thinking; disallows for new into tt contradicts previous info
12. [2 pts] From
our discussion about eyewitness testimony describe how both a defense
attorney and prosecuting attorney can influence the eyewitness’ memory for
specific details. Refer to a real-life situation in which you are familiar or
you get the creative juices flowing and make up a scenario. Be specific! Please
respond on a separate piece of paper.
Both attorneys are
going to manipulate the wording of the language they use in order to influence
the eyewitness's memory. They may add details or leave out details in order to
support or discount the eyewitness's posible schemas about a person or
situation. The pressure placed upon the eyewitness may lead them to fall prey
to the "overconfience barrier"—the finding tt ppl usually have too
much confidence in the accuracy of their judgments; ppl's judngemts areusually
not as correct as they think they are.
The defense
attorney will use ambiguous, indefinite, non-confrontational terms like
incident or accident to play down the situation. The prosecuting attorney, on the other hand,
will use very distinct words like brutal and slaying to paint a horrible
picture for the judge and jury.
13. Kim
participated in a study in which she was asked to develop a theory for why
“absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Afterwards she was told that she had
been purposefully misled and that actually research has consistently shown that
absence DOES NOT make the heart grow fonder. “Out of sight, out of mind’ is the
more accurate of the two proverbs. Her persistence in holding onto her initial
conceptions even after her belief had been discredited is called?
a. stable locus of control
b. rosy retrospection c. belief perseverance d. Stroop effect
14.
[4 pts]The class was distributed a story about Pat and Jamie. You will need
this story in which to refer. Half of the class read a story in which Pat and
Jamie were house-hunters and the other half read a story in which Pat and Jamie
were burglars. Describe how both groups of students’ memories were expected to
be influenced for the questions listed below,
#s
4 & 5 & 6. Incorporate the
concepts related to schematic processing, ACCESSIBILITY AND PRIMING, in your
answer to clearly show that you understand how these concepts relate to the
expected findings of this activity. Use a separate piece of paper for your
answer.
4. WHAT DO YOU THINK PAT AND
JAMIE ESPECIALLY NOTICED WHILE LOOKING AT THE HOUSE?
5. WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING
READERS CAN REMEMBER ABOUT THE HOUSE ITSELF.
6. WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING
READERS CAN REMEMBER ABOUT WHAT WAS IN THE HOUSE.
Accessibility-the extent to wch schemas and concepts are
at the forefront of ppl’s minds and are therefore likely to be used when making
judgments abt the soc world.
Priming- activating particular associations in
mem. Related to retrieval cue and signal
detection theory and state dependent learning (put in a good mood and read a
story or put in a sad mood and read a story you're more likely to recall the
happy or sad details respectively sig more than other details.
When students read
a story where Pat and Jamie are introduced as burglars or house buyers, they
were primed to focus on the aspects of the story in which burglars or house
buyers would normally focus. When it comes time to remember things about the
story, they will only access those details tt they were primed to remember,
since the info was at the forefront of their memory (accessible to them).
15.
A panel of psychologists interviewed a sample of 30 engineers and 70 lawyers and
summarized their impressions in brief descriptions.The following description
has been drawn at random from the sample of 30 engineers and 70 lawyers.
Twice
divorced, Frank spends most of his free time hanging around the country club.
His clubhouse bar conversations often center around his regrets at having tried
to follow his esteemed father’s footsteps. The long hours he had spent at
academic drudgery would have been better invested in learning how to be less
quarrelsome in his relations with other people.
What
is the probability that Frank is a lawyer rather than an engineer?
More
than 80% of Univ of Oregon Students thought he was a lawyer. Fair enough
answer, BUT
When
the rates were given as 70 engineers and 30 lawyers, the responses were the
same!
Which
one of the following choices is the above scenario an example of?
a.
Representativeness heuristic b. Availability heuristic
c. Anchoring and adjustment heuristic d. Behavioral
confirmation
16.
The following is a section of a song by Jewel from her 1994 Pieces of You album
called "I'm Sensitive." Pay particular attention to the words in caps
and describe which social psychological phenomenon this is an example of.
“I was thinking that it might do some good if we robbed the
cynics and took all their food, THAT WAY WHAT THEY BELIEVE WILL HAVE TAKEN
PLACE.”
a.
self-reference effect b. belief perseverance
c.
actor-observer bias d. self-fulfilling
prophecy
“Given a thimbleful of facts we rush to make
generalizations as large as a tub.” –Gordon Allport
17. [3 pts] a) Describe the purpose of the activity
in which 5 students looked at a picture of people on a subway train and then
described it to subsequent students, while student observers recorded their
peers’ recall. b) What were the
findings in the 1940s -1960s?
c) Why do you think the results in our class were
different?[Hint: refer to concepts such
as cultural and historical time frame to support your response.] Answer on a
separate piece of paper.
a) The activity is
designed to display our expectations based on cultural influences and past
experiences. It also displays how our ways of thinking are influenced by
cultural expectations and past experience expectations. b) In the 1940's-1960's, people who were asked
to recall the events taking place in the drawing said that the knife was in the
black man’s hand and not the white man’s. c) The class' results differed in
that the knife did NOT change hands. This result may be due to a break-down in
racial barriers and stereotypes, increased interaction among ppl of all
different races; and maybe due to society having fewer cultural expectations
based on race.
18. At first,
people tend to automatically believe everything they hear and see. Second, they
determine whether that information is accurate. Finally, they discount that
information if they do indeed determine that it is inaccurate. According to
Daniel Gilbert what factors increase the likelihood that people will continue
to believe false information? [Refer to your textbook]
a. People are too
self-focused.
b. People’s egos
prevent them from thinking that they might be wrong.
c. People might be too tired or
preoccupied.
d. It’s hard to
think on a full stomach.
19. Despite the
current controversy surrounding the 2002 Olympics pairs-figure skating, the
phenomenon known as counterfactual reasoning can help us predict which
type of medal winner will be happiest. Look at the choices below and determine
in order of happiest to least happy each of the medal winners are. [Refer to
your textbook]
Gold = Russians Silver = Canadians Bronze = Chinese
a. Russians most
happy, then Canadians, then Chinese
b. Russians most happy, then Chinese, then
Canadians
c. Canadians
most happy, then Russians, then Chinese
d. Chinese most
happy, then Canadians, then Russians
20. [3 pts] a) Which group of students have the
strongest statistical reasoning skills? [Refer to textbook]
a. chemistry
students b. medical
students
c. law students d.
psychology students
b) What is the explanation for the correct answer above? Since psychology students
are more likelt to enroll in classes such as statistics and research design,
they are more likely to develop sophisticated logic and reasoning skills
compared to their peers who are not as well-trained in these areas.
c) List
one strategy that your textbook authors recommend for improving human thinking.
Remember to use your own words—in other words, paraphrase.
·
Consider
the opposite point of view.
·
Be
careful not to be overly confiden
·
t.
CHAPTER Four: Social Perception—How We Understand Others
21. [2 pts] a) How do men and women differ in terms
of flirting? b) According to
evolutionary psychologists, why does flirting occur?
a) Females when conveying interest do the following:
toss hair, sway
hips, arch feet, giggling—usually putting hand up near mouth and tucking chin
down, turning head slightly to the side—coyly;
gaze wide-eyed by arching brows, flick tongue over lips, extend chest,
extend throat to communicate submisiveness
Props: High heels,
bra inserts, make-up etc.
Goal: communicate
youth, fertility, sexual maturity, fidelity—by playing hard to get.
Males when conveying interest do the following:
arch back, stretch pectoral muscles, sway pelvic, swagger, laugh loudly, tug at
tie, clasp the back of neck, which has the effect of stiffening the stance and
puffing out the chest, gradiose gestures, tilting chin in air
(look at me I’m
strong and powerful) I won't hurt you and I don't want much....yet
Props: $$, weight
gainer fuel
FYI: Taller men,
men w/ square jaws achieve higher ranks in the military than those with weak
chins. Taller men are over-represented in boardrooms and bedrooms.
b) Purpose of
flirting is to engage in a communication process to select a potential mate. A
genetically different, fertile, healthy mate.
Flirting is an
info-revealing process; it's a safe, reliable, and peaceful means of
communicating attractin, wch can then lead to courtship, mating, and commitment
to the offspring tt will carry our DNA into the next generations to come.
We investigate
sexual availability and interest using a lot of nonverbal behs b/c it just
wouldn't do to approach someone and say, "I'm sexually attracted to you,
do you wanna get down to business?"
Flirting allows us
to sample before buying; it’s an exchange of info.
22. Which one of the following groups of
people are most accurate in detecting lying?
a. people older than 50 b.
people younger than 50 c. men d. women
23. In
1958 Fritz Heider develop a theory, called ,
of how people explain others' behavior by attributing it either to internal
dispositions such as or external situations such as .
a. attribution theory
; environmental demands ;
personality characteristics
b.
attribution theory ; personality characteristics ; environmental demands
c. cognitive dissonance theory
; environmental demands ; personality characteristics
d. cognitive dissonance theory
; personality characteristics ;
environmental demands
24. In explaining
Patty Hearst's criminal behavior, the prosecution in her trial described Patty
as a rebel looking for a cause. The Symbionese Liberation Army's (
Patty and her defense team
explained the cause for Patty's criminal behavior in terms of ? They said she
was a child who had been savagely abducted from her home & kept bound &
blindfolded in a closet for 57 days. During those weeks in the closet she had
been repeatedly threatened w/ death, repeatedly raped, and repeatedly
indoctrinated w/
a. external attributions ; internal attributions
b.
intrinsic attributions ;
extrinsic attributions
c. extrinsic attributions ; intrinsic attributions
d. internal attributions ;
external attributions
25.
Chiarra was late for an important psychology exam. When explaining failure in
the most flattering way she would attribute the cause to:
(1) an :
if it wasn't for the darn traffic..........
(2) :
I know I can leave earlier next time to compensate for the traffic
(3) uncontrollable :
It's not my fault, I can't drive through the other cars.
a.
(1) external locus and; (2) unstable / changing characteristics
b. (1) internal locus and; (2)
stable / unchanging characteristics
26. [3 pts] Briefly
describe a scenario that you are personally familiar with in which you are trying
to determine why someone did something. Next, use Kelley’s covariation model of
attribution theory to evaluate whether or not
your impression of that person’s behavior can be attributed to strictly
dispositional factors or strictly situational factors. Be sure to accurately
incorporate, in your response, the concepts: consensus, distinctiveness, and
consistency and whether the person is high or low on each of those concepts. Do
NOT be vague! Answer on a separate piece of paper.
1)
Consensus-in comparing the actor's reactions to other ppl's reactions we
try to figure out if the actor's beh is similar to others or different than
others. Keep in mind that this is still the same situation.
if yes then consensus is high. the actor is in agreement
w/ other ppl who are currently observing/engaging in tt particular situation.
if no then consensus is low. the actor seems to the be
only one or one of the few tt is behaving a certain way.
2)
Distinctiveness- does the actor's reaction occur only in the presence of
the environmental stimulus or entity? or does the actor's reaction occur in the
presence of diverse environmental stimuli?
if yes then the actor is behaving in
a way tt's got something to do with this situation alone.
if no then the actor is behaving in
a way tt transcends across different situations.
3)
Consistency- does the actor respond this way in the same or very similar
situations no matter when this interaction btwn actor & entity occurs
and/or no matter under which circumstances? or is the actor only responding
this way to this situation right here and now (a one shot deal)? We can only
determine whether an actor's beh is consistent if that actor is exposed to that
same or very similar entity.
·
If yes then there's
something abt these types of situations that seems to bring out this kind of
beh in this person.
·
If no then there's no
telling how this person will behave b/c the beh is so variable. When beh is
inconsistent regardless of high or low consensus & distinctiveness then we
are unable to make an accurate attr.
Why is that man
running out of the office bldg? Wait! Look! There are other ppl running out of
the bldg too, so consensus is high. I'd be willing to bet tt distinctiveness is
high too—in other words, I don't think tt he makes a habit out of running out
of bldgs. I'm thinking this also based on the consensus info tt I have. I can
see this office bldg from my window across the street and no one has ever run
out of this bldg before. So it appears at first tt consistency is low, but lets
think abt this a little more. The news is reporting a bomb threat and I have
seen instances in which ppl have run out of bldgs when there's a bomb threat.
In looking at other possible situations then consistency would be high. One
instance of beh does not provide us with the consistency info we need. That's
why we sometimes make assumptions and consider hypothetical scenarios.
27. Mandy is fluent in four
languages. One day she happens to be reading a newspaper article about how a
man strolled casually into a place of worship and shot and killed six people.
The journalist reported that the man was mentally unstable, had low
self-esteem, and had a warrant out for his arrest on traffic related offenses.
In which one of the following languages is Mandy
reading the newspaper?
a. Swahili b. English c.
Japanese d. Korean
28.
[2 pts] Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleeza Rice are discussing national security.
Despite their conversation being controlled to be equal on all counts (speaking
lengths, number of important points made), who will Robert Mueller perceive to
be more influential?
Donald Rumsfeld (Defense Sec).
Who
will perceive Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleeza Rice to be equally influential? Coleen Rowley (FBI,
Special Agent) and Vice President Dick Cheney.
President
George W. Bush Robert
Mueller (FBI Director)
Donald
Rumsfeld (Defense Sec)
Coleen
Rowley (FBI, Special Agent) Vice
President Dick Cheney
Condoleeza
Rice (NSA)
George
Tenet (CIA Director) Richard
Clarke (National Security Council
group
leader)
29. As Shawn is
walking to class he sees someone trip and spill their coffee. He thinks to
himself, what a klutz. What did Shawn just do?
a.
He committed the fundamental attribution error.
b.
He committed the actor-observer effect
c.
He demonstrated a self-fulfilling prophecy.
d.
He demonstrated belief perseverance.
30. [2 pts] You have a choice here of either describing
a concrete, original example of Defensive Attributions such as: a) unrealistic optimism OR b) belief in a just world OR
c) Self-Serving
Attributions using a sports-related example.
Unrealistic
Optimism: a form of defensive attr where ppl think tt
good things are more likely to happen to them than to their peers and tt bad
things are less likely to happen to them than to their peers.
EX: A
significantly high (and unrealistic) number of college graduates think that
they will be millionaires by age 40 compared to their peers. Ppl also tend to
think that fires, floods, and burglary is what happens to "other
ppl", not to themselves.
Belief in a
Just World: a form of defensive attr where ppl assume tt
bad things happen to bad ppl and tt good things happen to good ppl.
EX: When ppl get
in car accidents, observers tend to assume that the victims always did
something to bring it on themselves (i.e., DUI; speeding; talking on a cell
phone) when other explanations are plausible (i.e., vehicle malfunction,
roadway obstruction, improper or absent signage)
Self-serving
Attribution (Sports example): A self-serving bias explains how we use excuses to explain away
failure or inadequacies. We also tend to hold more positive self-appraisals
than are really called for.
EX: Chelsey had a
soft ball coach in high school who would credit her players' hard work,
dedication, and ability to stay-focused for the team's successes. When the team
lost, she would credit the opponent with having a supportive fan base (if it
was an away game) or she would insinuate that they were very fortunate and
perhaps had great spirit.
Victory finds a
hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan—Count Galeazzo Ciano, The Ciano
Diaries (1938)
CHAPTER FIVE: Self-Knowledge—How We Come to Understand
Ourselves
31. Vanessa's "Who Am
I" list looks like this: 1) shy 2) reserved 3) cautious 4) smart 5) witty
Ephraim's list looks like
this: 1) friendly 2) leader 3) son 4)
brother 5) police officer
Who is defining herself or
himself in terms of an interdependent self?
a. Vanessa b. Ephraim
32. Dr. Shannon
Potter and Dr. Danielle Weeks (2002) conducted a tissue experiment (the kind of
tissue's you use to blow your nose). They asked participants which one of the
four brands they preferred the most. All the tissues were really the same
brand. The researchers found a clear serial position - recency effect (a
preference for the last one they touched). When asked to explain
why they preferred the one they did they never said anything about the order in
which the tissues were presented (which was the correct reason). Instead they
might have said something like, "Oh this one feels softer" or some
other nonsense since they were all the same. What did Potter and Weeks'
experiment show?
a. participants are easily swayed by experimenter expectations
b. according to reading theory since people read left to right,
they chose the tissue furthest to the right
c. participants displayed the self-reference effect
d.
people are not as accurate about knowledge about themselves and why they do
things as they think they are.
33. [3pts] Provide a personal example of your self-concept at age 6 and currently. Provide an example of
your Looking Glass Self. Answers will vary.
EX of how
self-concepts change over time (REVIEW from notes):
9 y/o boy: I have brown eyes, brown hair, I'm a boy,
I have an uncle who is 7 ft tall.
18 y/o man: I am a human being I am a moody person. I am an indecisive
person. I am an ambitious person, I am a very curious person, I am not an
individual. I am a loner. I am an American (God help me). I am a democrat,
liberal, radical, conservative, pseudoliberal, atheist, I am not a classifiable
person, and I don't want to be.
Looking Glass
self: by sociologist Charles Cooley (1902)
describes how we use others as a mirror for perceiving ourselves. Fellow
sociologist George Herbert Mead (1934) refined Cooley's idea saying tt what
matters for our self-concept is not what others actually think of us, but what
we perceive them as thinking. We then integrate these perceptions into our
self-concept. What we think others think of us may not actually be what they do
indeed think of us!
EX: "Claude" perceives his peers and coworkers to always
be looking to him for how to behave, so he sees himself as a leader, as
confident—maybe overly so, as a risk-taker, and as in control.
34. Social psychologists,
Baumeister & Cairns (1992) gave participants a personality test.
Unbeknownst to the participants they were randomly assigned to receive
computer-administered flattering or unfavorable feedback. Baumeister &
Cairns secretly timed how long people spent reading the feedback they received.
Read the next sentence carefully!
When the feedback was favorable, people spent significantly
reading it and
recalled of it later
than when it was generally negative.
a. more time ; less b. more time ; more
c. less time ; less d.
less time ; more
35.
Miranda creates obstacles and excuses for herself in advance of anticipating
poor performance so that she can preserve her self-esteem. For example she
agrees to drive her friend to her friend's parents' house down in
a.
self-deception b. self
handicapping c. false
consensus bias d. false uniqueness
effect
36. [1 pt]
Katie’s fiancé gave her a 1-karat diamond ring, which is smaller than most of
her friends’ diamond rings. She makes herself feel better by focusing on the
fact that her ring is bigger than the rings of the women with whom she works.
April is learning how to
play the guitar. Although she doesn’t expect to be as proficient as Eric
Clapton or Jimi Hendrix, she does compare herself to her guitar teacher.
ANSWER BOTH A
& B!
A) Katie is engaging in: B) April is engaging
in:
a. downward social comparison a.
downward social comparison
b. upward social
comparison b.
upward social comparison
c. relative
social comparison c.
relative social comparison
d. absolute
social comparison d.
absolute social comparison
37. is
being attuned to the way one presents oneself in social situations and
adjusting one's performance to create the desired impression. For example if
you circled true to the following statements
I
guess I put on a show to impress or entertain others
I
would probably make a good actor
I
can look anyone in the eye and tell a lie w/ a straight face
then you would be described as a .
a. Self-monitoring ;
low self-monitor
b. Self-monitoring ; high self-monitor
c. Self-awareness ; highly
self-aware person
d. Self-awareness ; poorly
self-aware person
38. Swann
studied individuals' drive to maintain a stable consistent self-concept. He
studied people who perceive themselves in unflattering ways (have low
self-esteem) and how they react to receiving positive feedback (praise or
success). Even though the news is good they feel as though their self-concept
has been threatened. Affectively
(emotionally) people like to receive strongly positive feedback, but
cognitively they are skeptical and distrustful of it. They are more inclined to
believe feedback that confirms their views of themselves even though
emotionally they feel best after highly positive feedback. He called this
what?
a. social comparison theory b. actor-observer bias
c. self-verification theory d. self-handicapping theory
39. [3pts] a) Describe a specific behavior in
which you have tried (or are trying) to exert self-control. Answers will vary (i.e., smoking, drinking, losing weight, not
procrastinating, anger management)
b) Based
on Baumeister and colleagues' research findings in your textbook, what are some
factors that have increased/will increase your success (i.e.,
past success experiences, set subgoals to attain instead of one overwhelming
goal, reduce stress, increase health—eat well and get rest) and what are
some factors that have increased/will increase the likelihood that you have
failed/will fail (stress, too tired, night-time,
depleted resources from exerting self-control all day long already)? Answers will vary.
Refer to pages 142-143 in textbook.
CHAPTER 6:
Self-Justification and the Need to Maintain Self-Esteem
40. Throughout Tricia's
sophomore year in college she engaged in unprotected sex with three different
men. Tricia wasn't really worried about getting pregnant because she has been
careful to take her birth control regularly. When Tricia quaffs a little too much alcohol she tends to behave more
impulsively by not delaying sexual activity until she and her partner have
condoms in their possession. Tricia is well aware that her sexual partners
could be passing a sexually transmitted disease (STD) to her and she is well
aware that she could have a STD and be passing it to her partners. A recent
human sexuality course has brought to her awareness the discomforting knowledge
that she doesn't not engage in health-promoting sexual behavior. In order to
cope, Tricia has started to believe that
"it won't happen to me, I'm different."
Which one of the following
three basic ways is Tricia using to reduce her feelings of discomfort—her
dissonance?
a. Tricia is changing her
behavior to bring it in line with her dissonant cognition.
b. Tricia is justifying her
behavior by changing one her dissonant cognitions.
c. Tricia is justifying her behavior by
adding new cognitions (beliefs) to her existing repertoire of beliefs.
quaffs: imbibe, overindulge in food or drink; drink
deeply in a hearty or thirsty way
41. Casey's twentieth high
school reunion is coming up this summer. She has spent over 30 shopping hours
at four different malls and on the Internet looking for the perfect outfit for
her formal reunion. She selected two outfits that she would be equally happy
with wearing and brought them home to show her girlfriends and get their
opinions. Finally she selected the black one and returned the red one. A week
prior to her reunion she went shoe shopping and happened to see the red outfit
she rejected. According to postdecision dissonance, Casey is most likely
to hold which one of the following beliefs?
a. Despite rating the outfits equally at
one point, Casey now would rate her black outfit higher than the red outfit she
decided against.
b. Even though Casey kept
the one black outfit, now that she sees the red one she rejected; she wants the
red one instead.
c. Since Casey rated both
outfits equally to begin with, she still values them equally now even though
she had to choose just one.
42. During a difficult
biology exam, Ryan, who wants to become a biologist, starts to think about the
information he scribbled in pen on his arm. All he would have to do is surreptitiously
pull his sleeve up his arm and glance at his notes. He finally decides not too.
According to the section in your textbook, “The Decision to Behave Immorally,”
how will Ryan’s experience of dissonance influence his attitude toward
cheating?
a. Ryan will probably cheat
on his History exam too.
b. Ryan will probably think
that cheating is a victimless crime that won’t hurt anybody.
c. Ryan will probably think
that everyone cheats, so it’s not that bad.
d. Ryan will probably think that cheaters
are scumbags and should be expelled from the university.
43. [3 pts] CHOICE: Choose either part A or part B
and answer the question.
Part A: For every
greyhound that goes on to race, nine others are bred and rejected. Obviously
this creates a problem for greyhound breeders who then have a glut of dogs to
feed, care for, and shelter. It costs a lot of money to care for dogs. It costs
about $15.00 to euthanize dogs. Not
too long ago a documentary showed greyhound dumpsites in which hundreds of dogs
have been clubbed to death and had their ears cut off and burned (so the
breeder code tattooed in their ears could not connect the dogs to the
breeders). The media's publicizing of these atrocities has resulted in an
increase in greyhound adoption agencies like Rocky
Mountain Greyhound Adoption (www.rmga.org). Despite many legitimate
adoption agencies operating nationwide, there are a few who operate in a less
than ethical manner.
euthanize: an act or method of
causing death painlessly
Part B: Provide a personally relevant example of Justification of Effort. Be
explicit in your response how your example illustrates Justification of Effort.
Answer Part A or Part B here: ANSWER PART A:
Part A: A
seemingly sympathetic shelter worker will approach
ANSWER PART B:
Joining the Army:
A person has to put up with six weeks of excruciating physical activity,
obstacles, tasks, humiliation, subordination, and horrible food. At the end,
the person is given a low-paying job with limited freedom and they’re expected
to be willing to give up their life if the situation arises. However, because
of the effort exerted to get to that point, most soldiers praise the army as a
wonderful, worthwhile experience and are very dedicated.
44. A lot of people think
that if males were castrated there would be a lot less sexual assault in the
According to research on
insufficient punishment which one of the following statements is most
accurate?
a. Extremely harsh
punishment would serve as a sufficient deterrent for people to avoid sexually
assaulting others. They would internalize prosocial values more effectively
under threat of extreme punishment.
b. Extremely harsh punishment would NOT
serve as a sufficient deterrent for people to avoid sexually assaulting others.
They would instead focus more on not getting caught.
c. Extremely harsh
punishment would not affect for the worse or the better people’s likelihood to
sexually assault others.
45. [3 pts] Identify any
group of people who has been or is currently victimized. Based on social
psychological findings, explain: How we come to hate these victims. Be
specific. [Refer to your textbook] Refer to pages 192-196 for guidance.
46. Jill holds the view of
herself that she is a competent and high achieving student.
Hugo wishes that he were an
“A” student instead of a “C” student.
Mark is okay with just
getting by in college; he doesn’t really care one way or the other how he does
in his classes compared to his peers.
Jill, Hugo, and Mark are all
taking an English Literature class this semester. All three students received a
“C” on their first paper. Which TWO
of the above students are most likely to feel distressed according to
self-discrepancy theory?
a. Jill b.
Hugo c. Mark
47. [4 pts] CHOICE: Choose
either part A or part B and answer the question.
PART A: Provide a concrete example of one of the
following: a) self-evaluation
maintenance theory, b) self-verification theory, or c) self-affirmation theory
SEMT: one's self-concept can be threatened by
another individual's beh and tt the level of threat is determined by both the
closeness of the other individual and the personal relevance of the beh.
EX: You consider
yourself the best runner on your school’s cross-country team. A new girl joins
and completely out-performs you and beats your record considerably. This is
threatening to you, and usually leads to several ways to try to reduce the
dissonance that was aroused due to the threatening experience. See page 202 for
elaboration regarding the reduction of dissonance in this context.
SVT: ppl have a need to seek confirmation of their
self-concept, whether the self-concpet is pos or neg, in some circumstances,
this tendency can conflict with the desire to uphold a favorable view of
oneself; when a person seeks confirmation on their self-concept whether it is
negative or positive. People will seek to confirm even the negative aspects of
their self-concept because being told that these negative attributes are false
will create dissonance. Being viewed differently than a person views themselves
will also be the source of embarrassment.
EX: You consider
yourself to be terrible at math, yet your professor praises you for performing
well on an exam. You will try to minimize the praise since this does not
support your self-concept of being horrible at math.
SAT: ppl will reduce the impact of a diss-arousing
threat to their self-concept by focusing on and affirming their competence on
some dimension unrelated to the threat; when people face such a strong threat
to their self-concept that it cannot be easily reduced. To deal with this, the
person will limit the impact of the dissonance-causing threat by affirming
their self-concept in areas not related to the threat. People will remind
themselves of the positive aspects of their self-concept to justify the
negative aspects.
EX: A person
drinks too much. They love the taste of alcohol so much that they cannot go
cold turkey or even limit their drinks. Instead, they reduce the dissonance
created by knowing that excessive drinking is bad for the body by saying “Yes,
I drink, but I’m also a wonderful artist.”
PART B: In which kind of situation is a person more
likely to help a stranger than a friend? In situations
that are self-relevant to an individual, that person is more likely to help a
friend than a stranger. If a task puts a person’s self-esteem on the line, they
will not want to be out-shined by their friends, so they will make the task
more difficult for their friend or more commonly—less easy.
EX: On an exam
that reflects one’s intelligence, the person will want to look better, so they
will not help their friend adequately on material that they don’t understand.
They may be more helpful regarding getting that person a job at their work, if
their work does not represent a strong component of their self-concept.