,PSYC 101 Module 7 | General Psychology Exam Q&A |
Portage Learning
1. Which of the following best describes social cognition?
A) The study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another
B) The mental processes involved in perceiving, interpreting, and remembering information
about the social world
C) The study of unconscious drives and conflicts
D) The study of how behavior is shaped by consequences
Correct Answer: The mental processes involved in perceiving, interpreting, and
remembering information about the social world
Rationale: Social cognition focuses on how people process, store, and apply information
about other people and social situations. It examines mental processes such as attention,
memory, and reasoning as they relate to social interactions. This is distinct from general
social psychology, which encompasses a broader range of topics.
2. What is a schema in social cognition?
A) A mental framework that helps organize and interpret social information
B) A type of cognitive bias
C) A defense mechanism
D) A personality trait
Correct Answer: A mental framework that helps organize and interpret social information
Rationale: Schemas are mental structures that organize knowledge and guide the processing
of new information. In social cognition, schemas help us efficiently interpret social situations
and make sense of others' behavior. They can lead to biases when they are overly rigid or
inaccurate.
,3. What is the availability heuristic?
A) Judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind
B) Judging the likelihood of an event based on how well it matches a prototype
C) The tendency to search for information that confirms one's beliefs
D) The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one's own judgments
Correct Answer: Judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to
mind
Rationale: The availability heuristic involves estimating the frequency or probability of an
event based on how readily relevant examples can be recalled. For example, people may
overestimate the risk of a plane crash because crashes are highly publicized. The
representativeness heuristic involves judging based on prototypes.
4. What is the representativeness heuristic?
A) Judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind
B) Judging the likelihood of an event based on how well it matches a prototype
C) The tendency to search for information that confirms one's beliefs
D) The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one's own judgments
Correct Answer: Judging the likelihood of an event based on how well it matches a
prototype
Rationale: The representativeness heuristic involves judging the likelihood of something by
how well it matches our mental prototype of that category. For example, assuming a quiet
person is a librarian rather than a salesperson. The availability heuristic is based on ease of
recall.
5. What is confirmation bias?
A) The tendency to search for information that confirms one's existing beliefs
B) The tendency to make decisions based on how information is presented
C) The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one's own judgments
, D) The tendency to approach problems in a familiar way
Correct Answer: The tendency to search for information that confirms one's existing beliefs
Rationale: Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, and remember
information that confirms one's preexisting beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence. It
can lead to flawed decision-making and is a common cognitive bias in social cognition.
6. What is the self-serving bias?
A) The tendency to attribute our successes to internal factors and our failures to external
factors
B) The tendency to attribute our successes to external factors and our failures to internal
factors
C) The tendency to believe that the world is fair and people get what they deserve
D) The tendency to conform to group pressure
Correct Answer: The tendency to attribute our successes to internal factors and our failures
to external factors
Rationale: The self-serving bias protects self-esteem by allowing us to take credit for
successes while blaming external factors for failures. This is a common attributional pattern
in individualistic cultures. The just-world hypothesis is a related but different belief.
7. What is the fundamental attribution error?
A) The tendency to overestimate the influence of personal traits and underestimate the
influence of situations when judging others' behavior
B) The tendency to overestimate the influence of situations and underestimate the influence
of personal traits when judging others' behavior
C) The tendency to attribute our own behavior to external factors
D) The tendency to conform to group norms
Portage Learning
1. Which of the following best describes social cognition?
A) The study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another
B) The mental processes involved in perceiving, interpreting, and remembering information
about the social world
C) The study of unconscious drives and conflicts
D) The study of how behavior is shaped by consequences
Correct Answer: The mental processes involved in perceiving, interpreting, and
remembering information about the social world
Rationale: Social cognition focuses on how people process, store, and apply information
about other people and social situations. It examines mental processes such as attention,
memory, and reasoning as they relate to social interactions. This is distinct from general
social psychology, which encompasses a broader range of topics.
2. What is a schema in social cognition?
A) A mental framework that helps organize and interpret social information
B) A type of cognitive bias
C) A defense mechanism
D) A personality trait
Correct Answer: A mental framework that helps organize and interpret social information
Rationale: Schemas are mental structures that organize knowledge and guide the processing
of new information. In social cognition, schemas help us efficiently interpret social situations
and make sense of others' behavior. They can lead to biases when they are overly rigid or
inaccurate.
,3. What is the availability heuristic?
A) Judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind
B) Judging the likelihood of an event based on how well it matches a prototype
C) The tendency to search for information that confirms one's beliefs
D) The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one's own judgments
Correct Answer: Judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to
mind
Rationale: The availability heuristic involves estimating the frequency or probability of an
event based on how readily relevant examples can be recalled. For example, people may
overestimate the risk of a plane crash because crashes are highly publicized. The
representativeness heuristic involves judging based on prototypes.
4. What is the representativeness heuristic?
A) Judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind
B) Judging the likelihood of an event based on how well it matches a prototype
C) The tendency to search for information that confirms one's beliefs
D) The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one's own judgments
Correct Answer: Judging the likelihood of an event based on how well it matches a
prototype
Rationale: The representativeness heuristic involves judging the likelihood of something by
how well it matches our mental prototype of that category. For example, assuming a quiet
person is a librarian rather than a salesperson. The availability heuristic is based on ease of
recall.
5. What is confirmation bias?
A) The tendency to search for information that confirms one's existing beliefs
B) The tendency to make decisions based on how information is presented
C) The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one's own judgments
, D) The tendency to approach problems in a familiar way
Correct Answer: The tendency to search for information that confirms one's existing beliefs
Rationale: Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, and remember
information that confirms one's preexisting beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence. It
can lead to flawed decision-making and is a common cognitive bias in social cognition.
6. What is the self-serving bias?
A) The tendency to attribute our successes to internal factors and our failures to external
factors
B) The tendency to attribute our successes to external factors and our failures to internal
factors
C) The tendency to believe that the world is fair and people get what they deserve
D) The tendency to conform to group pressure
Correct Answer: The tendency to attribute our successes to internal factors and our failures
to external factors
Rationale: The self-serving bias protects self-esteem by allowing us to take credit for
successes while blaming external factors for failures. This is a common attributional pattern
in individualistic cultures. The just-world hypothesis is a related but different belief.
7. What is the fundamental attribution error?
A) The tendency to overestimate the influence of personal traits and underestimate the
influence of situations when judging others' behavior
B) The tendency to overestimate the influence of situations and underestimate the influence
of personal traits when judging others' behavior
C) The tendency to attribute our own behavior to external factors
D) The tendency to conform to group norms
