Siena Heights University
at Kellogg Community College
Social Psychology: PSY 340
Test 1
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.(2 pts each)

1.		Social psychology is all of the following except
a.	a science addressing a diverse array of topics.	
b.	the study of how people think, feel, and behave.	
c.	a compilation of anecdotal observations and case studies.	
d.	an approach applying the scientific method of systematic observation, description, and measurement.	

2.		Courses in social psychology are often required for students majoring in which of the following fields?
a.	Education	
b.	Journalism	
c.	Business	
d.	All of these	

3.		Sociologists tend to study behavior at the _____ level, whereas social psychologists study behavior at the _____ level.
a.	group; individual	
b.	interpersonal; cultural	
c.	specific; general	
d.	social; cognitive	

4.		Although related to other fields, social psychology is distinct in that its emphasis is on
a.	the power of situational factors that influence human behavior.	
b.	classifying and treating psychological disorders.	
c.	identifying individual characteristics that are relatively stable across time.	
d.	describing the relationship between human behavior and societal variables.	

5.		The phenomenon that makes people question how social psychology is different from common sense is called the _____ phenomenon. 
a.	“I knew it all along”	
b.	“science is stupid”	
c.	“self-superiority”	
d.	“hale and hearty”	

	

6.		A researcher wanted to see if caffeine raises or lowers a person’s self-esteem. In one condition, he gives participants three glasses of soda with a high caffeine content and in the other he gives participants three glasses of decaffeinated soda. After participants finish their soda, they complete the Rosenberg (1965) self-esteem scale. In this study, caffeine is the ________ and the score on the Rosenberg questionnaire is the ________.
a.	conceptual independent variable; operational independent variable	
b.	independent variable; operational dependent variable	
c.	operational dependent variable; conceptual dependent variable	
d.	conceptual dependent variable; operational independent variable	

7.		The term self-concept refers to 
a.	the sum total of a person’s beliefs concerning his or her own personal characteristics ( who am I?).	
b.	the evaluation of one’s own abilities and attitudes through comparison to similar others.	
c.	whether a person’s self-evaluation is positive or negative.	
d.	the general disposition to focus on either the inner feelings or outer image of the self.	

8.		According to the looking-glass model of self-concept development, the self-concept develops
a.	from one’s physical appearance.	
b.	from the way one is viewed by others.	
c.	slowly, reaching its complete form only in old age.	
d.	quickly, but is quite fragile and subject to change.	

9.		Jennifer use to like to scuba dive in her spare time. She was hired to do this for her county Sheriff’s Office and now notices that she only likes to scuba dive when being paid. The best description of her scuba diving is 
a.	need-driven motivation into self-verification motivation.	
b.	intrinsic motivation into extrinsic motivation.	
c.	extrinsic motivation into intrinsic motivation.	
d.	self-verification motivation into need-driven motivation.	

10.		According to your text, deception is most likely to be detected by attending to which channel of communication?
a.	Spoken words	
b.	Body posture	
c.	Voice pitch	
d.	Facial expression	

11.		Estimates of the probability that an event will happen based on the ease with which one can recall previous instances of this event reflect the
a.	base-rate fallacy.	
b.	fundamental attribution error.	
c.	two-step attribution process.	
d.	availability heuristic.	

12.		Which of the following is not discrimination?
a.	Believing that baby-faced men are harmless	
b.	Giving a pink toy to a girl and a blue toy to a boy	
c.	Signing a petition to keep a minority group out of the neighborhood	
d.	Hiring a thin candidate rather than an obese one with the same credentials	

13.		Sherrie dislikes all lawyers. This is an example of
a.	prejudice.	
b.	discrimination.	
c.	social categorization.	
d.	a stereotype.	

14.		A set of beliefs about a group cannot be considered a stereotype if it is
a.	positive.	
b.	negative.	
c.	true.	
d.	None of these	

15.		Gender stereotypes are prescriptive. This means that gender stereotypes
a.	identify what men and women should be like.	
b.	can be used to predict when men and women are likely to behave in stereotype-consistent ways.	
c.	are more accurate than other kinds of stereotypes.	
d.	are less influenced by cultural standards than other stereotypes.	

16.      Devon considers himself a big Detroit Lions fan and identifies with other Lions fans.  He also despises the 	Chicago Bears and cannot understand why anyone would want to be a fan of that team.  For Devon, other 	Detroit Lions fans would be considered a(n) ______________, while Chicago Bears fans would be a(n) 	__________________.

a.	out-group, in-group
b.	social support, social threat
c.	benefit, detriment
d.	in-group, out-group

17.		Attitudes are best understood as
a.	being either entirely positive or entirely negative.	
b.	being initially positive but increasingly negative as new information arises.	
c.	varying in strength along both positive and negative dimensions.	
d.	ranging on a continuum from positive to negative.	

18.		One potential problem with self-report measures is that
a.	they do not provide information concerning the intensity of an attitude.	
b.	they do not provide information concerning the direction of an attitude.	
c.	respondents might not respond truthfully.	
d.	it is not possible to assess the validity of self-report measures.	

19.		Source credibility is determined by
a.	competence.	
b.	trustworthiness.	
c.	competence and trustworthiness.	
d.	competence, trustworthiness, and likeability.	

20.		Which of the following source characteristics best explains why a company might recruit a supermodel to endorse its products?
a.	Similarity	
b.	Credibility	
c.	Likeability	
d.	Trustworthiness	

21.		Research indicates that subliminal influence
a.	never occurs.	
b.	usually occurs in the short term for simple judgments or to enhance our already existing desires.	
c.	is more likely among people high in the need for cognition.	
d.	can persuade people to take action even when they were previously unmotivated to do so.	

	22.	Marcus believes rather strongly that more money should be devoted to environmental concerns. However, he is agitated because he just signed a petition for a friend advocating the logging of a local forest in order to create new jobs. He then seems to soften his stance about the environment. This is best explained by
a.	cognitive dissonance theory.	
b.	self-affirmation theory.	
c.	the inoculation hypothesis.	
d.	self-perception theory.	

	23.	Linda believes that mankind was created by a divine Creator rather than through an evolutionary process. She has, however, agreed to accompany a friend to a lecture on evolution. Prior to this she studies not only her own beliefs but also some of the main points of the theory of evolution. This allows her to develop some arguments against what she is about to hear. This would be an example of the
a.	inoculation hypothesis.	
b.	self-affirmation theory.	
c.	the inoculation hypothesis.	
d.	self-perception theory.	

	24.	Which of the following is not one of the newer technologies, described by your text, used in data collection by social psychological researchers?
a.	Transcranial magnetic stimulation.	
b.	Event-related potential.	
c.	Internet.	
d.	Television	

	25.	Shawn is unsure about whether or not he is a good employee. He thinks about how many times he has worked late, helped his colleagues with their work, and sacrificed his own interests for the betterment of the organization. After thinking about all this, Shawn concludes that he is a good employee. This conclusion is based on a process described by
a.	self-perception theory.	
b.	social comparison theory.	
c.	self-awareness theory.	
d.	self-discrepancy theory.	

Identify with a T or F, whether each of the following statements are True or False (2 pts each).
26.		Dennis folds his arms and looks down when becoming bored. This is an example of non-verbal communication.
		
27.		Anna believes that everyone must love to shoot pool because she does. This is an example of self-fulfilling bias.
		
28.		Affectionate feelings toward women based on the belief that women need protection are referred to as benevolent sexism.

29.		Being persistently stereotyped, perceived as deviant, or devalued in society because of membership in a particular social group or because of a particular characteristic is the definition of modern racism.
		
30.		According to your text, knowing a person’s attitude on a subject is typically sufficient to predict their behavior. 

31.		Examining the belief that lying is morally wrong is a testable hypothesis.

32.		Causation is fairly easy to prove in an experiment.   
		
33		Self-monitoring is the process of reflecting on your own inner thoughts and feelings in order to gain self-knowledge 
	
34.		Random sampling means that everyone has the same chance of being selected for participation within the experiment.  
		
35.		Self-schemas are beliefs about the self that guide the processing of self-relevant information

Short Answer (6 pts each) 

36.		Describe what is meant by the ABCs of the Self. Give an example of each.

37.		Can a person have a prejudice without discriminating? Can a person discriminate without having a prejudice? Explain your answer to each. Give an example to help make your point or support your answer.

38.	Define the Central Route of Persuasion and the Peripheral Route of Persuasion. Describe reasons 	why each one might be used and give an example of one of them, identifying which one it is. Do 	you think that the advertisement is effective? Why?
39.	Describe the Fundamental Attribution Error.  Identify one culture where we would be more likely to find 	this error occurring, and one where we might find it less.  Why do you think this is the case?

40. 	Explain how Sociology, Clinical Psychology and Social Psychology would differ in their research of an 	area such as prejudice. Which approach do you believe would yield the best information? Explain your 	preference.

Extra Credit (2 pts)

Identify one thing that you found interesting during the first 6 chapters. Why did you find it interesting?