Tulane Psych 1000 Bethany Rollins Test 4
Exam Q’s and A’s (Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16
Spring 2025)
What is social psychology? - -the scientific study of how we think about,
influence, and relate to one another (p. 468)
- What are attributions? - -inferences we make about the causes of behavior
- Dispositional/internal attributions - -people infer that a person's behavior
is due to internal, personal factors such as traits, abilities, or feelings
- Situational/external attributions - -infer that a person's behavior is due to
situational factors
- What is attribution theory? - -the theory that we explain someone's
behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition
- What is the fundamental attribution error? - -the tendency, when
analyzing others' behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and
to overestimate the impact of personal disposition
- Why does fundamental attribution error occur? - -we are more aware of
the situational influences on our own behavior
- What are attitudes? - -feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that
predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events
- How do attitudes relate to actions? - -attitude affects actions, and actions
affect attitude (two-way street)
- What is cognitive dissonance? - -the tension when attitudes and actions
don't match
- What is cognitive dissonance theory? - -the theory that we act to reduce
the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions)
are inconsistent. For example, when we become aware that our attitudes
and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing
our attitudes
- What are social norms? - -understood rules for accepted and expected
behavior. Norms prescribe "proper" behavior
, - What is conformity? - -adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a
group standard
- What is compliance? - -agreeing to a stated request made by someone
who is not in a position of authority
- What is obedience? - -involves a demand from an authority
- What happened in the Asch conformity studies? - -The line test. College
students answered questions correctly when alone. But in group settings,
where others were answering incorrectly, they said the wrong answer (even
though the right answer was obvious). Proves that people will conform in
social situations
- What is the foot-in-the-door phenomenon? - -the tendency for people who
have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
(e.g., Chinese communist POWs asked to do increasingly larger tasks as the
war continued)
- What is the door-in-the-face phenomenon? - -the tendency for people to
agree to a smaller request after initially being asked an unreasonable
request (e.g., "Could you volunteer daily for the next two weeks?" No. "Could
you volunteer for the next 30 mins?" Yes.)
- What happened in Milgram's standard obedience study? - -The subjects
were randomly assigned teacher and learner roles. Learners were supposed
to memorize word pairs on which the teacher would test them. If the learner
got it wrong, the teacher would shock the learner at an increasing voltage
power. The teacher would be able to hear the fake screaming of the learner
and the begging to stop but the experimenter would tell them to continue
the experiment
- What were the results of Milgram's study? - -Even though most
psychologists expected the teachers to stop when the learner expressed
pain, 60% of the subjects got all the way to 450 volts (the highest voltage
which would likely cause death)
- What was one of the most powerful influences on obedience in Milgram's
studies (as discussed in class)? - -Obedience is highest when the person
giving orders is believed to have power and to be a legitimate authority
figure
- What was the main conclusion of Milgram's studies? - -We obey because
we believe that the authority figure has a great deal of power
, - What is the chameleon effect? - -unconsciously mimicking others'
expressions, postures, and voice tones
- What is deindividuation? - -the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint
occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity
- What is social loafing? - -the tendency for people in a group to exert less
effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when
individually accountable
- What is group polarization? - -the enhancement of a group's prevailing
inclinations through discussion within the group; beliefs and attitudes we
bring to a group grow stronger as we discuss them with like-minded others
- What is groupthink? - -the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire
for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of
alternatives.
- Under what conditions is groupthink most likely to occur? How can it be
avoided? - -- It occurs when
1) the group is cohesive and isolated from outside views
2) has illusions of invulnerability or superiority
3) believes they are in unanimous agreement
4) dissenting views are suppressed
5) and a leader favors particular position
- It can be avoided when a leader
1) welcomes opinions
2) invites experts' critiques of plans
3) assigns people to identify possible problems
- What are stereotypes? - -generalized (sometimes accurate but often
overgeneralized) beliefs about a group of people
- What is prejudice? - -an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward
a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves stereotyped beliefs,
negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action
- What is discrimination? - -unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group
or its members
- How is prejudice a legitimizing ideology? - -It justifies and maintains
inequality on the basis that some people are less capable or worthy
- What are overt attitudes? - -attitudes that we consciously express and are
aware of having
Exam Q’s and A’s (Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16
Spring 2025)
What is social psychology? - -the scientific study of how we think about,
influence, and relate to one another (p. 468)
- What are attributions? - -inferences we make about the causes of behavior
- Dispositional/internal attributions - -people infer that a person's behavior
is due to internal, personal factors such as traits, abilities, or feelings
- Situational/external attributions - -infer that a person's behavior is due to
situational factors
- What is attribution theory? - -the theory that we explain someone's
behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition
- What is the fundamental attribution error? - -the tendency, when
analyzing others' behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and
to overestimate the impact of personal disposition
- Why does fundamental attribution error occur? - -we are more aware of
the situational influences on our own behavior
- What are attitudes? - -feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that
predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events
- How do attitudes relate to actions? - -attitude affects actions, and actions
affect attitude (two-way street)
- What is cognitive dissonance? - -the tension when attitudes and actions
don't match
- What is cognitive dissonance theory? - -the theory that we act to reduce
the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions)
are inconsistent. For example, when we become aware that our attitudes
and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing
our attitudes
- What are social norms? - -understood rules for accepted and expected
behavior. Norms prescribe "proper" behavior
, - What is conformity? - -adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a
group standard
- What is compliance? - -agreeing to a stated request made by someone
who is not in a position of authority
- What is obedience? - -involves a demand from an authority
- What happened in the Asch conformity studies? - -The line test. College
students answered questions correctly when alone. But in group settings,
where others were answering incorrectly, they said the wrong answer (even
though the right answer was obvious). Proves that people will conform in
social situations
- What is the foot-in-the-door phenomenon? - -the tendency for people who
have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
(e.g., Chinese communist POWs asked to do increasingly larger tasks as the
war continued)
- What is the door-in-the-face phenomenon? - -the tendency for people to
agree to a smaller request after initially being asked an unreasonable
request (e.g., "Could you volunteer daily for the next two weeks?" No. "Could
you volunteer for the next 30 mins?" Yes.)
- What happened in Milgram's standard obedience study? - -The subjects
were randomly assigned teacher and learner roles. Learners were supposed
to memorize word pairs on which the teacher would test them. If the learner
got it wrong, the teacher would shock the learner at an increasing voltage
power. The teacher would be able to hear the fake screaming of the learner
and the begging to stop but the experimenter would tell them to continue
the experiment
- What were the results of Milgram's study? - -Even though most
psychologists expected the teachers to stop when the learner expressed
pain, 60% of the subjects got all the way to 450 volts (the highest voltage
which would likely cause death)
- What was one of the most powerful influences on obedience in Milgram's
studies (as discussed in class)? - -Obedience is highest when the person
giving orders is believed to have power and to be a legitimate authority
figure
- What was the main conclusion of Milgram's studies? - -We obey because
we believe that the authority figure has a great deal of power
, - What is the chameleon effect? - -unconsciously mimicking others'
expressions, postures, and voice tones
- What is deindividuation? - -the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint
occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity
- What is social loafing? - -the tendency for people in a group to exert less
effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when
individually accountable
- What is group polarization? - -the enhancement of a group's prevailing
inclinations through discussion within the group; beliefs and attitudes we
bring to a group grow stronger as we discuss them with like-minded others
- What is groupthink? - -the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire
for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of
alternatives.
- Under what conditions is groupthink most likely to occur? How can it be
avoided? - -- It occurs when
1) the group is cohesive and isolated from outside views
2) has illusions of invulnerability or superiority
3) believes they are in unanimous agreement
4) dissenting views are suppressed
5) and a leader favors particular position
- It can be avoided when a leader
1) welcomes opinions
2) invites experts' critiques of plans
3) assigns people to identify possible problems
- What are stereotypes? - -generalized (sometimes accurate but often
overgeneralized) beliefs about a group of people
- What is prejudice? - -an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward
a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves stereotyped beliefs,
negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action
- What is discrimination? - -unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group
or its members
- How is prejudice a legitimizing ideology? - -It justifies and maintains
inequality on the basis that some people are less capable or worthy
- What are overt attitudes? - -attitudes that we consciously express and are
aware of having
