FRQ FINAL TEST QUESTIONS &
ANSWERS 2025/2026
Explain how "Behavior is adaptive"
Repression
Conformity
Imprinting
Displaced aggression
Loss of information from short term memory - ANSWERSRepression- keeping distressing
thoughts and feeling in the unconscious
If someone has gone through a traumatic event, their response would be to repress their
feeling. The adaptive behavior to that would be to no think of it at all, or to act in a certain way
the stops them from thinking about the traumatic event.
Conformity- the tendency for people to yield to real or imagined social pressure
When people are put into big groups they feel the need to conform. If a person is the only one
not wearing red and feels he or she is being judged for being the outcast, then he or she will
most likely conform to to wearing red. The person uses adaptive behavior to fit in with the
crowd.
Imprinting- creating a bond with the first thing the animal see and then copying its behavior
When some animals are born they imprint on the first thing they see. These animals adapt their
behavior to typically their mothers because that is their best chance of survival.
Displaced aggression- Taking aggression out on a person that had nothing to do with the conflict
he/she is upset about
If someone is really mad a friend and does not take his or her anger out on his/ her friend then
someone could pay the price for his/ her anger. This is adaptive behavior because instead of
yelling at the intended person, he/she shift his/her anger towards another person.
Loss of information from short term memory- encoding errors
,If someone loses information from his/her short term memory they he/she will have to adapt to
the situation without that information. So if someone forgets a person's name he/she just met,
then the adaptive behavior would be to not say the name, or act as if he/she knows it
The ten participants in the study were unaware of its purpose. The first five who signed up to be
tested where assigned to the Alone condition and the next five were assigned to the With
Others condition, each of the five participants was asked to wait in a room with several
confederates of the researcher. During this waiting period, a male voice in the next room
screamed out asking for help. In each condition, the percentage of participants who responded
to the cry for help was recorded (bystander intervention)
Identify the independent and dependent variables in this study
- Independent
-Dependent variable
-Identify 4 flaws in the design of this study and the recommendations you would make to
correct these flaws
-Discuss an ethical issue raised by the design of the study
-Use your knowledge of research in social psychology to describe the likely results of this study
if correct methodology had been used - ANSWERSIndependent- condition or event that an
experimenter varies in order to see its impact on another variable
Dependent variable- variable that is affected by the independent variable
The independent variable was the male voice crying for help and the dependent variable was
the percentage of people who responded to the cry for help
Identify 4 flaws in the design of this study and the recommendations you would make to correct
these flaws
There should have been more subjects because 10 is a small amount of people. To fix this
problem there should have been more subjects to test to help the results. The experimenters
need to account for gender differences. Could have a male control and experimental group and
a female control and experimental group. The experiments need to account for the gender of
the voice. Should run a few trials with a male screaming for help and then a women screaming
for help. The experiment should also randomly assign subjects, rather than having the first few
go to one category and the rest to another
Discuss an ethical issue raised by the design of the study
, The subjects were not debriefed so they did not know what was happening. The need to be
debriefed before and after the study.
Use your knowledge of research in social psychology to describe the likely results of this study if
correct methodology had been used
The people in the individual group would have responded faster than the group with people
because of the bystander effect
Moving a system in which grades are no longer given or used to evaluate student progress.
Define each of the following concepts and state how each might either positively or negatively
change student behavior under such a system
Extrinsic motivation
Arousal theory
Learned helplessness
Self- fulfilling prophecy - ANSWERSExtrinsic motivation- motivation from outside forces
The motivation to do well may be hindered because the external consequence of a bad great
will not be given.
Arousal theory- we seek an optimum level of excitement or arousal.
The need to do well may be hindered because there's no excitement/ reward given. If we seek
optimum excitement then no grades would give no one excitement because they would not
have that sense of achievement if they finished with straight As.
Learned helplessness- passive behavior produced by exposure to unavoidable aversive events
Learned helplessness would decrease because the constant Fs a student could be getting would
no longer exist, so the student could continue to try their best.
Self- fulfilling prophecy- a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true
The consequence of failing a test will not be seen. So every time a person takes a test they will
not think they will get an F so he or she may do better.
Human organism displays various reactions that are characterized by opposing tendencies. Use
specific physiological or psychological mechanism to explain how each of the opposing
processes apply
ANSWERS 2025/2026
Explain how "Behavior is adaptive"
Repression
Conformity
Imprinting
Displaced aggression
Loss of information from short term memory - ANSWERSRepression- keeping distressing
thoughts and feeling in the unconscious
If someone has gone through a traumatic event, their response would be to repress their
feeling. The adaptive behavior to that would be to no think of it at all, or to act in a certain way
the stops them from thinking about the traumatic event.
Conformity- the tendency for people to yield to real or imagined social pressure
When people are put into big groups they feel the need to conform. If a person is the only one
not wearing red and feels he or she is being judged for being the outcast, then he or she will
most likely conform to to wearing red. The person uses adaptive behavior to fit in with the
crowd.
Imprinting- creating a bond with the first thing the animal see and then copying its behavior
When some animals are born they imprint on the first thing they see. These animals adapt their
behavior to typically their mothers because that is their best chance of survival.
Displaced aggression- Taking aggression out on a person that had nothing to do with the conflict
he/she is upset about
If someone is really mad a friend and does not take his or her anger out on his/ her friend then
someone could pay the price for his/ her anger. This is adaptive behavior because instead of
yelling at the intended person, he/she shift his/her anger towards another person.
Loss of information from short term memory- encoding errors
,If someone loses information from his/her short term memory they he/she will have to adapt to
the situation without that information. So if someone forgets a person's name he/she just met,
then the adaptive behavior would be to not say the name, or act as if he/she knows it
The ten participants in the study were unaware of its purpose. The first five who signed up to be
tested where assigned to the Alone condition and the next five were assigned to the With
Others condition, each of the five participants was asked to wait in a room with several
confederates of the researcher. During this waiting period, a male voice in the next room
screamed out asking for help. In each condition, the percentage of participants who responded
to the cry for help was recorded (bystander intervention)
Identify the independent and dependent variables in this study
- Independent
-Dependent variable
-Identify 4 flaws in the design of this study and the recommendations you would make to
correct these flaws
-Discuss an ethical issue raised by the design of the study
-Use your knowledge of research in social psychology to describe the likely results of this study
if correct methodology had been used - ANSWERSIndependent- condition or event that an
experimenter varies in order to see its impact on another variable
Dependent variable- variable that is affected by the independent variable
The independent variable was the male voice crying for help and the dependent variable was
the percentage of people who responded to the cry for help
Identify 4 flaws in the design of this study and the recommendations you would make to correct
these flaws
There should have been more subjects because 10 is a small amount of people. To fix this
problem there should have been more subjects to test to help the results. The experimenters
need to account for gender differences. Could have a male control and experimental group and
a female control and experimental group. The experiments need to account for the gender of
the voice. Should run a few trials with a male screaming for help and then a women screaming
for help. The experiment should also randomly assign subjects, rather than having the first few
go to one category and the rest to another
Discuss an ethical issue raised by the design of the study
, The subjects were not debriefed so they did not know what was happening. The need to be
debriefed before and after the study.
Use your knowledge of research in social psychology to describe the likely results of this study if
correct methodology had been used
The people in the individual group would have responded faster than the group with people
because of the bystander effect
Moving a system in which grades are no longer given or used to evaluate student progress.
Define each of the following concepts and state how each might either positively or negatively
change student behavior under such a system
Extrinsic motivation
Arousal theory
Learned helplessness
Self- fulfilling prophecy - ANSWERSExtrinsic motivation- motivation from outside forces
The motivation to do well may be hindered because the external consequence of a bad great
will not be given.
Arousal theory- we seek an optimum level of excitement or arousal.
The need to do well may be hindered because there's no excitement/ reward given. If we seek
optimum excitement then no grades would give no one excitement because they would not
have that sense of achievement if they finished with straight As.
Learned helplessness- passive behavior produced by exposure to unavoidable aversive events
Learned helplessness would decrease because the constant Fs a student could be getting would
no longer exist, so the student could continue to try their best.
Self- fulfilling prophecy- a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true
The consequence of failing a test will not be seen. So every time a person takes a test they will
not think they will get an F so he or she may do better.
Human organism displays various reactions that are characterized by opposing tendencies. Use
specific physiological or psychological mechanism to explain how each of the opposing
processes apply
